The head of food safety reviews the challenges of exporting medicinal and aromatic plants

Dr. Tariq Al-Houbi, Chairman of the National Food Safety Authority, met with a group of large and small exporters of medicinal and aromatic plants, in the presence of a number of members of the House of Representatives from the Fayoum, Beni Suef and Giza governorates, in addition to a group of the Authority’s technical team, to discuss and discuss the most important challenges facing this sector. The important vital role.

 

The meeting discussed the challenges facing export operations for the medicinal and aromatic plants sector, especially in light of the National Food Safety Authority assuming the role assigned to it. According to the law, it is responsible for withdrawing samples from shipments prepared for export in order to succeed the Egyptian agricultural quarantine, and issuing certificates of validity for exported food products, while developing appropriate solutions for them to take the path of implementation, taking into account supporting and advancing the export of medicinal and aromatic plants.

 Al-Hobi reviewed the challenges facing the export sector, including the mechanism for dealing with the previous season’s stock of medicinal and aromatic plants, the sampling rates in accordance with the risk assessment methodology adopted by the Authority, as well as the reservation decisions and procedures taken in the event of Non-compliance with requirements, and processing operations that ensure compliance with the limits of fulfillment of requirements for food safety, such as fumigation, oil manufacturing, etc.

At the end of the meeting, Al-Hobi stressed that work is underway to develop gradual solutions to simplify procedures in consultation with stakeholders  To be implemented according to a specific timetable, these procedures are now being prepared so that they are compatible with the requirements of the National Food Safety Authority, and in a way that does not constitute an obstacle to the export operations of medicinal and aromatic plant products.

For their part, exporters of medicinal and aromatic plants praised the success of the National Food Safety Authority in Passing the last technical review visit carried out by the European delegation to evaluate the regulatory system for controlling microbiological pollutants on medicinal and aromatic plants exported to European Union countries in the period from 5 to 26 November. 2024, stressing the importance of this step in supporting confidence in the regulatory system applied in Egypt, which contributes mainly to advancing the export wheel of this vital sector. They also thanked Dr. Tariq Al-Houbi, Chairman of the National Food Safety Authority, for the Authority’s efforts and its recent tangible successes and its clear role in Strengthening efforts and overcoming any obstacles to open various global markets to the access of Egypt’s food exports.

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