"Better Training for Safer Food" initiative gets off to Africa

A "Better Training for Safer Food in Africa" (BTSF) initiative was launched in an effort to help developing countries improve their food safety systems for the benefit of their populations and economies.  BTSF has provided training to both European and third country officials who are responsible for checking that EU rules related to food, feed, plant health, animal health and welfare are properly applied.

Jointly with the African Union Commission (AUC), a specific programme targeted at Africa has been now set up, with the view to promoting compliance with international Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) measures as key to bilateral trade, both within Africa and with the rest of the world, and to increasing the protection of citizens. Under "BTSF-Africa" the EC and the AUC will jointly coordinate the implementation, from 2009 to 2010, of seven capacity building activities worth around €10 million. The key objective is to support food safety mainly by the transfer of technical expertise and policy advice in areas of food safety and quality across Africa.

More information is available here and here.