I do not know what your exact complaints regarding these US manufactures is,
but HACCP does not immediately quantify into a need to purchase additional
equipment nor modernize a processing facility. HACCP is a program designed
to assure product safety. Yes, I agree that newer technology is a good
addition to any processing facility, but new equipment is worthless if one
does not understand the basic premise of food safety. If one has good
maintenance programs in place, assures that the plant is cleaned properly
and educates its work force it does not matter the age of the facilty or the
equipment. Remember HACCP is a food safety program designed to "highlight"
those areas within a process determined as needing a higher level of control
in order to maintain the safety of the food being produced. I hope I have
clarified this for you.
>From the desk of Elizabeth Best
email liz@akgen.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Jon Pall Hreinsson [mailto:jonpall@3x.is]
Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2000 12:12 AM
To: seafood@ucdavis.edu
Subject: The HACCP situation in US
hi,<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
As manufacturer of equipment in various seafood processing industries, I
have seen many plants over the world. What has been interested for me is to
see how plants exporting to the US and EU have modernized and improved their
processing facilities and equipment to undertake the HACCP regulations.
However it has equally interesting to see how many processing plants in the
US have failed to do the same. I have seen frequently plants in the US that
are more the 10 years behind plants in northern Europe and far away from
being able to comply with the HACCP regulation. This made me think if the
HACCP was, or was initially set up a technical import restriction to the US.
I can't think of any other reason why the US are so strict on enforcing the
HACCP rule for imported fish, while at the same time US produced seafood, at
least in some cases, have failed to enforced the same regulations.
I hope I am not offending anybody. I am sure that many seafood processors in
US have a good plant that have the HACCP regulation in order. My colleagues
and I have however personally visited number of plants that are not even
close of getting HACCP.
You must not for get that with HACCP you get a better and more secure
product, but it comes at a price (more cost of capital and higher operating
costs). Thus, the tendency will always be that some will slack in producer's
effort to enforce such a regulation.
re,
jonpall
3X-Stal http://www.3x.is/ <http://www.3x.is/>
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Marketing Manager Fax. +354 456 5479
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