The EU’s new cash injection to the country of Georgia will hopefully help the food safety standard in the country to take big steps in improvement. A grant agreement was signed between the two parties on 2 July 2014. The 4.5 million grant will be used to establish effective food safety standards, veterinary standards and ensure a sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) management system in Georgia comes into alignment with EU standards and legislation (so far the EU has contributed 52 million to various grants and support measures around Europe).
Some of the new reforms created by the National Food Agency of Georgia (NFA) in the agriculture sector is set to create obligatory food inspections and improved hygiene standards along the entire food chain, including during production, storage and distribution. Funds will also be used to train food safety inspectors, veterinarians, plant protection experts and other NFA staff. Finally, the fund will also go to introducing new information technologies.
The grant will also help the Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture to improve their analyssi service to be more reliable. Furthermore, the Georgia Revenue Service Tax and Customs Administration will directly benefit from technical advances and trainings. With all these tasks for Georgia to take, food safety will hopefully be on the radar of consumers, farmers, retailers and the food processing sector.
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