National Seafood Exporters Association President Calls for Enhanced Quality Standards and Responsible Trade in the sector
Seafood exporters should prioritize and uphold the prescribed quality parameters for international trade, says Jagdish Fofandi, President of the National Seafood Exporters Association. He was inaugurating the National Technical Workshop on Indian Perspective on Food Safety, Security and Standards by ICAR- CIFT held in Kochi. Notably, India stands as the fourth largest seafood exporter globally and holds the distinction of being the leading exporter of shrimp to the US market. However, it is imperative to ensure that stringent food standards are not only met for international markets but also consistently delivered within the domestic market.
“Safeguarding food quality is a shared responsibility in providing clean and healthy sustenance to consumers” remarked Jagdish Fofandi.
The two-day national workshop is being held in association with Society of Fisheries Technologists India (SOFTI), Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and India Section of Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) International. The workshop will deliberate on the Indian Perspective of Food safety, Food security, and Standards, under the three major sub themes of food preservation, fortification & value addition, novel foods and neutraceuticals and, food safety, standards & risk assessment. In addition, there will be a plenary session by Industry thought leaders and a Technical session from industry sponsors as part of the workshop. About 400 scientists, academicians, policy makers and students from India and abroad are participating in the workshop conducted in hybrid mode. Research papers and poster presentations of the related topics will be there as part of programme.
“We are delighted to organise this important national technical workshop as we celebrate the world food safety day on June 7th. This year’s theme is ‘Food Standards Save Lives’. Being a responsible stakeholder in the food safety research and regulation sector, ICAR- CIFT decided to reach more students, academics, regulators, food safety solution providers, and citizens through this two day national workshop,” said Dr. George Ninan, Director, ICAR- Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (ICAR-CIFT), Kochi.
While speaking at the event, Alex K Ninan, Regional President, Indian Seafood Exporters Association (SEA), Cochin informed that steps are now being taken to implement biosecurity measures at food processing facilities to ensure food safety of the highest standard.
ICAR-CIFT, Cochin, is a premier research organization in the domain of harvest and post-harvest fisheries under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare, Govt. of India
Dr. Femeena Hassan, Principal Scientist & Head, QAM Division, ICAR-CIFT, Ravi Shanker, Joint Director, Export Inspection Agency (EIA), Kochi, Dr. T.V. Sankar – Principal Scientist, ICAR-CIFT & Vice President- SOFTI, and, Dr. K Gopakumar, Retd. DDG (Fisheries), ICAR and former Director, ICAR-CIFT spoke at the event.
