11 February 2005	Friday	01 Muharram 1426

PESHAWAR, Feb 10: Appropriate measures to control food quality are vital for enhancing the country's food exports and for food-related businesses to maintain their viability, speakers at a seminar held here on Thursday said.

They added that the steps were also required under the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), a covenant defining international standards of safe food management.

The seminar, titled HACCP's implementation, was jointly organized by the Export Promotion Bureau and a private firm providing services to the private sector for third-party inspection and expertise on measures to boost export.

Stakeholders from the private sector, including food processors, suppliers, exporters and officials of the public sector organizations attended the seminar during which participants asked questions about the best practices to ensure quality of their products.

Speakers said that businesses could benefit a lot by adhering to the requirements of HACCP. They said that food safety had attained greater importance worldwide because of the rising level of awareness among consumers who, being more educated on the subject, preferred food products of high quality.

They cited examples of some foreign businesses that suffered bankruptcy after their clients went to court against them because of their poor quality of food and disregard to proper safety management system.

Food-related businesses, they said, could suffer greatly if they ignored best practices to meet the international standards, they warned.

Noman Bashir, deputy director, EPB, Peshawar, and Farooq Mazhar, managing director of the private firm that organized the seminar, made presentations on the occasion.