The project aimed to pilot and assess how the new Codex guidelines on voluntary third-party assurance (vTPA) programmes could be put into practice by government authorities in Mali and Senegal to improve food safety outcomes, with the goal of protecting consumers and promoting fair business practices in the food sector through public-private collaboration.
This project is closely related two STDF pilot projects on the use of vTPA programmes in East Africa, benefiting Rwanda and Uganda, and in Central America, benefitting Belize and Honduras.
Food business operators (FBOs) are responsible for managing the safety of their products and for demonstrating to the competent authorities that they have effective controls and procedures in place to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade. To this end, and as sectors such as the retail trade increasingly require their suppliers to do so, many food business operators are voluntarily using quality assurance programmes, including voluntary third party assurance (vTPA) programmes.
- Increased awareness of regulatory authorities in pilot countries on how to evaluate and use data/information generated by vTPA programmes.
- Formulation of a risk-based food inspection policy and updated inspection operational procedures in the horticulture value chain in Mali and Senegal.
- Improved food safety compliance of FBOs in selected value chains based on the use of a voluntary food safety capacity building programme to protect public health and improve trade.
- Increased awareness among food safety regulators of the application of the vTPA approach in other countries through regional and global events and the creation of a partnership platform for regional interventions.