PESHAWAR: The provincial government is establishing a directorate to implement Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety and Halal Food Authority Act to provide safe, hygienic and Halal foodstuff to the people.

“We are working on fast-track basis to enforce the law as the process of recruitment of staff is underway and an office has already been provided to us by the government,” Riaz Mahsud, the director-general of KP Food Safety and Halal Food Authority, told Dawn.

He said that the law was passed by provincial assembly in May 2017 and regulations were notified subsequently after which the process of establishing the structure was in progress and a full-fledged setup would be on ground by January 2018.

Mr Mehsud said that the law was meant to ensure provision of safe, standardised and Halal food to people besides promoting the inter-provincial trade and commerce.

Act meant to provide hygienic, Halal foodstuff to people

He said that they were employing 480 staffers, including four directors, 11 deputy directors, 25 assistant directors, 38 food safety officers and other staffers before starting operations.

The official said that they visited the offices of Punjab Food Authority where they saw their working on the basis of which they developed a comprehensive programme to effectively enforce the law for the benefit of the people.

“Once the authority is established, we would be imparting training to the hoteliers as well as waiters on how to handle food items and supply the same to people in a hygienic way,” he said.

Mr Mehsud said that they had planned to set up a school for the training of the people involved in making, serving and supply of food items. The training would scale up their capacities regarding maintaining clean environment, he added.

“Those, who undergo training at the school, would be eligible to work in a food outlet for which they would be issued certificates. The authority’s mandate is to provide safe, healthy, Halal and wholesome food to the public at large,” he said. He said that the target could only be achieved if all the food manufactured, processed, stored, kept, packaged or sold were safe and healthy and in accordance with the notified standards. “To achieve this purpose, the Food Safety and Halal Food Authority has launched product registration,” he added.

Mr Mahsud said that there would be proper checking of branded packaged as well as loose foodstuff. “With the passing of time, we also plan to do away with loose packaging and ensure that all the articles are sold in packets. A logo of the province would be developed that would be pasted prominently on the packets of food items indicating that the same is fit for human consumption,” he added.

The law is innovative and covers all foodstuff and water including milk, tea leaves, slats, poultry and its products, meat, mutton and beverages, etc.

“From a small cabin to five star hotels, all would be inspected. Only the registered food meeting the criteria could be sold within the territorial jurisdiction of the authority,” said Mr Mehsud.

He said that every manufacturer, trader, importer, exporter or wholesaler, who intended to store, import, transportation, export, manufacture or sale the food product, would be required to obtain a Certificate of Product Registration (CPR) from the office of KP Food Safety and Halal Food Authority. “The CPR shall be issued once the authority is satisfied that the product conforms to the food safety, quality, labeling requirements and hygiene standards,” he added.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2017