SA to boost food safety

2004-11-29 08:44

Craig Bishop

Pietermaritzburg - National government will enact new food safety legislation next March to bring South African food exporters in line with international food export regulations.

This is in line with an initiative to establish global food safety regulations, a process that is about two years away from realisation, according to food safety experts speaking at the Pesticide Initiative Programme workshop in Pietermaritzburg last week.

At present, South African legislation governing the use of agro-chemicals and the maximum residue limits (the amount of pesticide left on the produce) do not always tally with European requirements.

The new South African legislation will enforce compliance with a variety of food safety requirements, including traceability, which is the monitoring of produce from the farm to the consumer's plate and the tracing of supermarket produce to its point of origin.

SA's horticultural exports to Europe are valued at R8bn yearly. Lack of compliance with the new regulations could result in Europe blacklisting South African imports, with the potential to spell disaster for employment within the agricultural sector.

- The Witness