Dear Enrique, Hector and Carlos
Thank you very much for the initial feedback, and perhaps I should "rectify"
the angle of my questions.
I'm quite aware of the work that FAO did since the DANIDA project days
onwards, and the quality of the information, syllabus proposals contained in
the reports and technical publications. (they are spread on my desk and
around it!)
Many of the academic courses and training options in relationship to the
"seafood safety side", are initially drawn from this 18 years of collective
work.
(Anecdotically, it was a FAO training course I did when I was a fisherman
that motivated me to "know" about these issues a bit more and eventually go
to university and so on)
We do also have a bulk of research coming form academia worldwide to be used
in regulatory decision making
As I mention, many (most perhaps) CAs had some sort of training in one or
various of the aspects we identify as necessary, under some sort of capacity
building programme by various organizations
My questions are aimed to identify initiatives as the Brazilian one that
Hector quoted, or the Canadian one.
Initiatives initiated and maintained by the CAs themselves or in
collaboration with academic institutions in their countries.
Are the syllabus they use defined and available, and if it "qualification"
has a level of formality?
The soul of this questioning is beyond my present FAO role, as there is lot
of good work written, I'm just looking for examples of its formalised use,
particularly in developing countries.
My experience is limited to a bit more than 30 countries, working with CAs
and industry without having seen a type of formalised initiative as such.
Hopefully this clarify my intentions
Thanks
Francisco Blaha
On 23/09/2008 23:09, "Enrique Bertullo" <ebertullo@redfacil.com.uy> wrote:
> Hi Francisco Blaha:
>
> When you place a recent conference to the fishery industry related to the U.E.
> audits in my country, Uruguay, I was traveling outside the City; nevertheless
> I
> have obtained your paper entitled "Exporting Seafood to UE", edited by
> ITC/Unctad/WTO on April 2008 and surely you are on the way.
>
> You are right when you said that the CAs human resources come from various
> backgrounds, but this is certainty in Latin America, where different
> disciplines are given to the people who wants an auditor job in the fishery
> industry or wants a professional degree related to fishery industry "safety
> side".
>
> Luckily, Latin America has many Research Centers and Universities giving
> curricula on seafood safety and your own Organization (FAO) gave a wide
> opportunities to Latin America people bringing dozens of postgraduate courses
> through the FAO-DANIDA Project, PNUD Project, FIIU Regular Program and others
> jointly with WHO or INPAZZ (LA), for more than 18 years!
>
> I agree with you about that the sum of knowledge is the best to understand the
> safety, technological and marketing sides of the fishery industry in
> developing
> countries and the same occurs in developed countries.
>
> Perhaps you should take a look in the most important Latin America
> Universities´
> Curriculums which cover seafood microbiology and biochemistry, on board
> handling
> and transport, post harvest best practices, seafood processing, fish
> technology
> and quality assurance. Surely you will be surprised!
>
> Concerning your specific questions, my comments are:
>
> * In some Latin America Universities, undergraduate students have a minimal
> standard of study to obtain a "seafood inspection" status when they arrive to
> the Veterinarian Degree ("Foods" scholarship); it means that these Veterinary
> Faculties have that
> kind of curricula you are talking about; if the people became "official
> inspectors"
> depends on job's opportunities. Some of them work in the private sector as
> "quality
> assurance" professionals. These curriculums are available in Internet.
> * Other Universities professional degrees are more "technological" than
> "safety
> oriented",
> and other are more "biological" than "safety oriented" (E.g. Engineers or
> Biologists) and they work in the Labs or in the private industry, as wells as
> in
> the CAs.
> * Some CAs in Latin America require as a prerequisite University's
> Veterinarian
> Degree to be a "professional seafood inspector".
> * Most of the CAs with University's help or International Bodies support (FAO,
> OMS, PNUD) or professional associations agreements, had or have postgraduate
> training programs on seafood audits, up
> dating the local capacity building time to time. Some Training programs are
> available in the
> published FAO Fisheries Reports.
>
> Regards,
>
> EB.-
>
> Mensaje citado por Francisco Blaha <francisco@ihug.co.nz>:
>
>> Hi Everyone
>>
>> Coming from industry, I'm convinced that is my job to know the regulatory
>> and market access requirements of the countries I'm aiming to export better
>> than the inspectors, just because if something goes wrong, is my money on
>> the line and not the salary of someone in the regulatory agency.
>>
>> But now, being on the capacity building side with many Competent Authorities
>> (CAs) and Industry organisations, I have seen that the people in charge of
>> regulatory compliance issues in regards seafood safety and market access
>> come from various backgrounds.
>>
>> I have worked with veterinarians, microbiologists, chemists, fisheries
>> people and some food scientists, and while knowledge of each is important,
>> the sum is what make sense.
>>
>> Many training initiatives (particularly in developing countries) focus on a
>> week of HACCP, or Risk Management or specific country requirements (such as
>> the EU), not many (if any) cover all other aspects that are important
>> (seafood Microbiology and biochemistry, on board handling, post harvest best
>> practices, seafood processing, fisheries technology, general records and
>> data management, and so on)
>>
>> I had the chance to talk this issue informally with colleagues over the
>> years, but never confronted it "formally"
>>
>> Hence, I wanted to post the following questions:
>>
>> Is it worth to discuss it, or is just too wide, complicated and with to many
>> variables to be useful?
>>
>> Has any CA set a minimal standard syllabus or training that potential
>> seafood inspectors need to comply before starting the field work?
>>
>> Is there some educational institution that provides specific training to be
>> a "seafood inspector"?
>>
>> I will be happy to hear comments
>>
>> Francisco Blaha
>> (now at FAO in Rome)
>>
>> --
>> Francisco Blaha
>> www.franciscoblaha.com
>>
>>
>
>
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