BHIMAVARAM, India, May 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
- Seminar aimed to keep local aquaculture and seafood exporters informed about current food safety systems, it also focused on recent changes in food safety management systems
- Dr. Ron Wacker, Senior Vice President at TÜV SÜD shared extensive information on seafood regulations in Europe
German food safety, testing and certification giant TÜV SÜD, today, concluded a day-long international seminar at Bhimavaram on Seafood Safety focused at educating the local traders about safety and regulatory environment in the export market. This seminar was held at Hotel Ananda Inn and comprised of three in-depth sessions on seafood quality testing for Europe, recent updates in food safety systems and latest trends in the global seafood market.
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An overview of European seafood market and Food Law was delivered by Dr. Ron Wacker who is the Senior Vice President at TÜV SÜD. He touched upon various testing practices, and benefits of collaborating with independent testing, inspection and certification organisations. The session highlighted key insights such as EU which constitutes of 28 member states, consumes 12.3 million tonnes of seafood while producing nearly 50% of the volume of 6.2 million tonnes. The vast volume of consumption is also met with imports, making it the single largest region for imported seafood and aquaculture products. He stated that, the net supply to EU is estimated to increase by 1.6 million tonnes which indicates promising opportunities for Indian seafood exporters.
The session further deep dived into the EU Food Laws, specifically for seafood products and elaborated on eligibility criteria for countries of origin, exporting to the EU. The key points include:
- Exporting countries must have a competent authority that is responsible for official controls throughout the production chain
- Guarantees from the national authorities on meeting relevant hygiene and public health requirements
- A control plan on heavy metals, contaminants, residues of pesticides and veterinary drugs for aquaculture products
Dr. Wacker's session concluded with spot lighting on challenges that seafood exporters face such as bacterial diseases that have emerged as a grave concern; and chemical contamination of seafood consignments. He highlighted how independent third party testing firms are helping exporters to address these challenges through inspection and sampling, testing and loading supervision.
Speaking on the side of the Seafood Safety seminar, Dr. Pankaj Jaiminy, Asst. Vice President (Food, Health & Cosmetics) - Testing, Certification & Inspection at TÜV SÜD South Asia said, "The response we have received for our Seafood Safety seminar clearly points out the motivation among aquaculture and seafood exporters to contribute to the growth of seafood exports from India. As a global testing and certification expert, it is our endeavour to apply our global expertise to the advancement of safety practices in the local market. Seafood cluster in the southern region demonstrates an inspirational spirit whose foundation is indigenous produce which has great demand in countries particularly in the EU. In order to keep this momentum steady, we look forward to collaborating more deeply with exporters in Bhimavaram ."
Opening the discussion on the recent updates of Food Safety System Certification 22000 V4.0, Rahul Soman of TÜV SÜD, highlighted some of the key changes and new requirements for aspects such as unannounced audits, transport and storage. He also spoke about additional scheme requirements for service management, food fraud prevention, product labelling and food defence to name a few.
TÜV SÜD recently announced that its state-of-the-art seafood testing lab in Vizag obtained the prestigious EIC (Export Inspection Council) accreditation. With this accreditation, TÜV SÜD's Vizag lab can cater to the entire seafood export and aquaculture belt in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa and equip them to be able to seamlessly export to international markets.
About TÜV SÜD
TÜV SÜD is a leading international service organisation catering to the strategic business segments INDUSTRY, MOBILITY and CERTIFICATION. Headquartered in Munich, Germany and founded in 1866, it has over 24,000 employees representing more than 850 locations throughout the world. Optimising technology, systems and know-how, the interdisciplinary specialist teams act as process partners to strengthen their customers' competitiveness.
About TÜV SÜD South Asia
TÜV SÜD South Asia is the leading consulting, testing, inspection and certification (TIC) company with presence across India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. With more than 1300 employees, TÜV SÜD South Asia has serviced over 10,000 clients to date through the past two decades. It is present at 32 locations including 19 labs across the three countries. Today, TÜV SÜD South Asia is internationally competent to provide TIC solutions cutting across a wide range of sectors that include management systems, conventional and renewable energy, water, sanitation, environmental technology, infrastructure, transit systems, real estate, food, supply chain, agriculture, toys, consumer electronics, textiles, leather and related products, automobile and components, and technical as well as soft-skills training.
For further details, please visit: http://www.tuv-sud.in/
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Edelman India
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