Mohamed Anwar, a member of the Chamber of Food Industries at Federation of Egyptian Industries, stated that food safety in Egypt is progressing at a good pace, and there is a great demand from factories to register with the Egyptian Food Safety Authority.
In a symposium on Safe Food for a Safe Future, Anwar added that the authority is cooperating effectively with factories, especially small and medium ones, to register with the authority and obtain a food safety certificate in order to be able to increase its exports to foreign markets after obtaining the white list certificate.
He pointed out that more than 30% of diseases in the digestive system and gastro-intestinal diseases globally can be avoided in case of attention to food safety, and its safe and good production.
Food industries represent about 11% of Egyptian industrial production, and employ about 25% of the workforce, he disclosed.
El-Shahat Selim, Deputy Executive Director of Government Relations and Legislation at the Chamber of Food Industries, said that the volume of investments for the chamber’s member companies amounted to EGP 250bn, for about 17,500 establishments.
Selim added that the Chamber signed several cooperation protocols with donors with the aim of upgrading industry and complying with requirements of Egyptian Food Safety Authority, as well as cooperating with all authorities concerned with food safety.
He called for providing loans to small companies to comply with requirements of the Food Safety Authority, to provide safe food, which will give a competitive ability to expand the sector’s exports during the coming period.
Egypt’s exports of food industries have achieved remarkable growth in recent years to exceed $4.1bn, and this number is expected to rise to more than $5bn, according to Selim.
Samar Shaarawy, factory inspector at the Food Safety Authority, said that developing a food safety system preserves the reputation of Egyptian products abroad, and enhances the ability of companies to meet the requirements for food safety in Egyptian and global markets.
Shaarawy added that the authority signed several cooperation protocols with several parties to facilitate procedures and time for examination of imported and exported companies’ products, facilitating trade movement, reducing product costs and providing a safe product.
