DATE: 18 NOVEMBER 2010
VENUE: CEDARA-KZN
AGRIBUSINESS EXPORT AWARENESS WORKSHOP
PREPARED & PRESENTED BY FRANCE MAHLANGU,
DIVISION: FOOD SAFETY & QUALITY PROMOTION,
DIRECTORATE FOOD SAFETY AND QUALITY
ASSURANCE,
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY &
FISHERIES

• About the APS Act
• Food safety & food hygiene standards
• Scope of standards
• Registration for FBO
• Who should register for FBO?
• Impact of food safety & food hygiene standards
• Benefit of compliance
• Evolution of marketing standards
• Towards better implementation

 Agricultural Product Standards Act, 1990 (Act no. 119 of 1990), promulgated in 1990 and came into force on the 1 st September 1991.
 Regulates the sale (local/import) and export of specific agricultural products by requiring that agricultural products--
 Be graded or classed according to standardized, objective, measurable minimum quality standards
 Be marked or labelled accordingly
 Packed in a certain manner.
 Be inspected according to certain procedures
 The Act was amended in 1998 in order to address:
 Constitutional changes (1996) e.g. Bill of rights (right to safety).
 International changes, e.g. SPS and Codex Alimentarius
Commission matters.
 Practical needs which arose at the time, e.g. management control system (proposed Organic regulations, Food Safety standards)

Food Safety means “an assurance that a food product will not cause harm to the Consumer when it is prepared and eaten according to its intended use”.
 Growing consumer demand for safe, quality & wholesome products
 Standards regarding food hygiene and food safety of regulated
Agricultural Food Products was published in line with section
4(3)(a)(i) of the APS Act together with CAC Guidelines & R918, R723/
R1125 of the Department of Health.
 Standards is only restricted to food safety and food suitability.
 Covers prescribed products destined for export.
 Covers safety and hygiene of food products at all stages – from farm to export stage.
 HACCP principles have been used.
 Concerns itself with registration for export to specific market
 Record keeping and traceability.

These standards relate to --
 Food safety and food suitability, does not cover nutritional or compositional value of the product.
 Food products of which the export is regulated in terms of the Act.
 Food products intended for export and not local sales or consumption.
 Harmonization of standards (only in respect of vegetables finalized)
These standards provide for --
 The requirements with regard to the hygiene of food products at all stages from and including primary production up to and including the export thereof and where necessary, require the implementation of food safety system.
 The rules for drafting of guides to good agricultural practices and the application of HACCP.

These standards provide for - -
 The registration for export to specific markets
 Record keeping and traceability and, where necessary, the withdrawal of food products (product recall) unfit for human consumption.
General obligation
 Food business operators (FBO’s) shall ensure that at all stages of handling for which they are responsible, from and including primary production up to and including the export of food products are carried out in hygienic way in accordance with the prescribed requirements of these standards.

Food business operators who intend to export a specific product shall ensure that all establishments under their control and covered by these standards are registered with the Executive Officer
FBO shall outline the –
 nature of business
 Name and address of all premises where food business activities are carried out including particulars of the responsible person.
 Products /commodities (produced, packed, processed, stored and handled)
 Food safety and system certification received to date - for risk assessment purposes

• To comply and maintain our international market share in term of food safety and hygiene.
• It allows the identification of the origin of a product at any stage from the production unit to the final consumer.
•
Tracking and tracing is made possible at any point in the supply chain.

All national fresh produce markets where regulated products are exported should be registered with the Executive Officer.
PPECB as an Assignee of the Department will conduct food safety and food hygiene auditing.
Agents who handle regulated products that are exported must also register.

 Agri Production Unit (Farm)
 Packhouse (on-farm)
 Packhouse (off-farm)
 Commercial cold storage
 Container depot
 Processing plant
 Transport operator
 Sea port terminal
 Airport terminal/forwarde
 Exporter
 Dry storage facility
 Dry facility

 Compliance fees with auditing for Food Safety and Food hygiene standards are at the expense of the exporter or producer.
 Registration as a Food Business Operator ensures an exporter or producer is a reputable trader/ supplier.
 Training costs
 New investment in infrastructure (e.g. pesticides stores)
 Analytical test costs
 Water tests
 MRL’s tests
 Adherence and upkeep of records
 Establishment of standard operating procedures for compliance purposes
 Establishment of traceability tools

 Achieve due diligence – pre-emptive action
 Facilitate international trade - Market access
 Automate compliance with other legislations in the industry, e.g. Act
36 of 1947, Act 54 of 1972 and other related pieces of legislation
 Ensure consistent production of safe and quality products.
 Maintains consumer confidence in food safety and quality
 Promote safe production practices for growers
 Minimise negative impact on the environment
 Food security becomes totally meaningful
 Encourages capacity-building for all involved along the value-chain including farm workers

EVOLUTION OF MARKETING STANDARDS AND
ASSOCIATED CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS
FOR FRESH PRODUCE
Market requirements in the 60s
 Quality was determined through:
 Visual characteristics and inspections
 Concern was given to outward appearance features such as colour, size, texture, taste, etc.
Market requirements in the 70s and early 80s
 Over and above earlier requirements market requirements were based on:
 Quality grades, varieties (cultivar) preferences based on use and purposes.
 Consistency in quality and quantities

EVOLUTION OF MARKETING STANDARDS AND
ASSOCIATED CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS
FOR FRESH PRODUCE
Market requirements in the late 80s and early 90s
 Food safety
 Maximum residue limits
 Microbiological contamination
 Mycotoxin (Aflatoxin) tolerances
 Stricter individual Country’s official import border inspection (for example the European Union).
 Inspection and controls by official authorities (Assignee: PPECB,
PROKON in collaboration with DAFF).
 Requirements of the 60s, 70s and early 80s are also applicable.

EVOLUTION OF MARKETING STANDARDS AND
ASSOCIATED CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS
FOR FRESH PRODUCE
Market requirements in the early 2000s:
 Traceability requirements:
 CAC/GL 60-2006: Principles for traceability/Product tracing as a tool within a Food Inspection and Certification system
 Regulation EC/178/2002 – emphasized safety, hygiene & suitability
 Strengthening of import border inspections (EU).
 Foreign audit inspections
 Food and Veterinary Organization (FVO) of the EU.
 Codex:
• Guidelines on the judgment of Equivalence of Sanitary measures associated with Food Inspection and Certification
• Principles and Guidelines for the Exchange of information in
Food Safety Emergency situation, etc.

EVOLUTION OF MARKETING STANDARDS AND
ASSOCIATED CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS
FOR FRESH PRODUCE
Market requirements in the most recent years and going into the future:
 Emphasis on GAP implementation in the field
 Correct use of agrochemicals and storage thereof
 Proper recordkeeping
 Personnel hygiene
 Traceability system, etc.
 HACCP in processing plants
 Third party certification (GLOBALGAP, BRC and ISO 22000) also known as voluntary or private standards
 New, sophisticated method of sampling procedures in food business operators in order to monitor safety and quality.
 Modern methods of traceability (e.g. e-trace) on cards

Codex and EC on food safety and quality
RSA Standards on food safety and standards; quality standards
 EC marketing standards, UNECE
 Export standard and requirements, and Codex commodity standards on local/import regulations on grading, quality.
packing and marking requirements
 EC 178/2002, Codex principles and
 HACCP R908, Food safety R707, guidelines on food hygiene,
Basic Hygiene R918, metal in traceability and food safety foodstuffs R1518 – published by DoH
 EC 1525/1998 – Contaminants in
 R 1145 tolerance for fungus-produced foodstuff toxins in foodstuffs
 EC MRL’s Regulation 396/2005 –

Export standards and requirements
2008, Codex JMPR and the Regulations relating to maximum levels of chemical residues
 Good Agricultural Practices
(Foodstuff, Cosmetics and disinfectants
Act No. 54 of 1972).
 Act 36 of 1947

“The focus is to have a completely different emphasis than we have had in the past. We are going to make our new priority preventing
(contamination) from happening in the first place” (Joe Biden, 2009)
Food safety Working Group which is co-chaired by Biden and Health and Human Service Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius.
With 90 days the Working Group:
 New safeguards designed to cut salmonella in raw eggs, E. Coli in ground beef and other leafy greens, melons and tomatoes.
 A better tracking system to pinpoint the origins of outbreaks.
 Better communications between agencies that regulate food safety.
 New positions at the Food and Drug Administration and the US
Department of Agriculture.

The Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in her budget speech 2010: highlighted the following:
 The DAFF will manage communicable diseases
 Improve on production quality to ensure enhanced food safety
 Finalize the strategy for food control system within 2013, (IPAP, I, II &
III), which also ensures a food recall system is in place
 Provision of nutritional and safe food for consumers.
 Eradicate hunger and poverty
 Create job opportunities
 Overall to ensure food security in RSA, SADC and Africa to realize the ideal of better country and better world!!

Food safety v/s Food security?
The life expectancy in developing countries, where food security is often seen as more important than food safety due to the high level of undernourishment in the population, is low (WHO, 2007).
IT IS POSSIBLE WE CAN HAVE BOTH?

DIRECTORATE FOOD SAFETY & QUALITY ASSURANCE
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY & FISHERIES
PRIVATE BAG X343
PRETORIA
0001
TEL: 012 319 7894
FAX: 012 319 7893
CELL: 082 391 7416
EMAIL: FranceM@daff.gov.za
WEB: www.daff.gov.za