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All food items exported to the European Union(EU) should conform to the requirements of the HACCP system from January 1, 2006.

The directive on hygiene of food items issued by the EU Parliament in April 2004 requires all exporters of food items to comply with this requirement by the date stipulated by them.

Germany, a member of the EU is already refusing to purchase cinnamon from Sri Lanka as it does not confirm to HACCP system requirements. Therefore all food items exported to the EU will have to conform to the HACCP standards from January 1, 2006.

At present most of the certification bodies in Sri Lanka issue HACCP certificates based on national or association level standards and not on International Standards published by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) such as ISO 9001 and ISO 15161.

This trend might lead to non acceptability of our products as they are not complying with internationally accepted HACCP standards. It might also require re-certification as and when they are exported to different countries, said President, Sri Lanka Association for Quality (SLAQ) Dr Srilal De Silva.

This will result in companies having to spend huge amounts of money. Therefore it is advisable to get the certificates from an internationally accredited certification body based on international standards which is valid for a three-year period and recognised internationally .

According to EU requirements all persons engaged in the food chain from primary growers to the end exporter should have the food safety system (HACCP) to ensure that the food items exported to the EU countries are safe for consumption.

HACCP is a management tool used to protect the food supply against biological, chemical and physical hazards. It was started in the 1960's by the NASA and the Pillsbury company and it was first used for foods developed for space programs.

Food borne illnesses and food borne injuries are now increasing and sometimes fatal. This also results in loss of productivity, jobs and revenue for companies as well as having to face litigation. Therefore people and governments are very careful when purchasing foodstuffs from abroad that require the highest standards of safety. The EU requirements are a result of this.

SLAQ and QITS organised a seminar recently for private tea factory owners on the EU requirements for implementation of HACCP.

Initially a factory should maintain Good Manufacturing practices. It is a must and the first step to getting the HACCP.

Conducting a hazard analysis, determining critical control points, establishing critical limits, establishing a system to monitor the control of the CCP, establishing corrective action, establishing verification action as well as a record keeping and documentation procedure are the seven Principles necessary to be fulfilled to implement HACCP.

However, fulfilling these requirements alone is not sufficient to obtain HACCP as a manufacturer has to get the certificate from an internationally accredited certification body based on international standards. At present UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Services) accredited HACCP certification based on ISO 9001 and ISO 15161 is the only available accredited HACCP certification based on International Standards. (SG)

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