With social distancing becoming the new normal and disrupting everyday life, the Philippine Accreditation Bureau (PAB) will not be deterred from finding innovative ways of holding activities that provide learning opportunities to its stakeholders while at the same time celebrate an important event for accreditation bodies worldwide.
In celebration of the World Accreditation Day (WAD), PAB will be hosting a free three-part online seminar on June 9, 2020 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. WAD is a global initiative celebrated annually. It was established by the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and International Accreditation Forum (IAF), the world organizations of Conformity Assessment Accreditation Bodies (CABs) which facilitate trade by promoting the value of accreditation and acceptance of test and certification results. With the theme, “Accreditation: Improving Food Safety”, WAD2020 focuses on how accreditation improves food safety to support consumers, suppliers, manufacturers, traders and, regulators in ensuring the quality and safety of food.
PAB’s “Online Briefing on Improving Food Safety and Security in a Pandemic” will feature topics on Improving Food Safety and Security; Impacts of Pandemic in Food and Agriculture; and Quality Management in Food Supply Chain that are relevant today, as food supply as well as the quality of food are severely affected in a crisis. Food security worsens due to the difficulty in getting local food supplies and the disruption of most economic activities.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the public is at risk with an impending food crisis if measures are not fast-tracked to protect the most vulnerable; ensure that global food supply chains are functioning well; and mitigate the impacts of the pandemic across the food system. Restrictions in movements including the aversion behaviour of the workers may also hinder the farmer from farming and food processors handling agricultural products from processing. The agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture sectors are particularly affected by restrictions in transportation, tourism, and closure of food establishments.
The quality of food products are affected during stages like transportation, storage or distribution. Evaluating risk levels in the supply chains minimizes food quality concerns and makes it easy for food manufacturers, distributors and traders to adhere to regulations on food safety.
What is the role of accreditation in all of these? Accreditation helps build quality assurance across the food supply chain: from food production, processing and packaging, storage and transportation, to retail and catering. In a joint statement, ILAC and IAF said that, accreditation plays an important role in food safety by ensuring “competent and impartial inspection, certification and testing services in all parts of local, national and international food chains. In doing so, accreditation supports the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3).”
Keep an eye on our website for further details of the online briefing. You may also contact the Promotion and Documentation Division (PDD) at pab@dti.gov.ph or at 0917-802-0047 for details.
Mark your calendar now and be ready for the #WAD2020.♦
Date of Release: 18 May 2020
Sources:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations | IAF | ILAC | Pan American Health Organization | Li, D., Wu, S.J. & Shi, C. (2018). Quality and Operations Management in Food Supply Chain. Journal of Food Quality. Hindawi.