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PRESSROOM

CFS3/JIFSAN Presents Risk Analysis Training to Government Officials in India

Posted Jul 27, 2011

As part of a USDA Foreign Agriculture funded program, CFS³/JIFSAN organized and presented a three-day training workshop on risk analysis to government officials in Hyderabad India.  Dr. Robert L. Buchanan, Dr. Abani Pradhan, and Dr. Juliana Ruzante of the University of Maryland and Dr. Richard Goodman of the University of Nebraska organized the course, with the former developing the training materials in risk analysis and the latter providing materials on food allergens and allergens in GM foods.  The workshop was held at the National Institute for Nutrition and was attended by 75 government officials and is part of the USDA and FDA efforts in regulatory capacity building in India. 

In addition to the formal training course, the UM group, along with representatives of USDA/FAS (David Leishman, Senior Attache for Agricultural Affairs) and FDA (Bruce Ross, Director, India Office), met with Sh. P.I. Suvrathan, Chairman, and Sh. V.N. Gaur, Chief Executive Officer, of the newly formed Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, in New Delhi.  Chairman Suvrathan emphasized that risk analysis was one of the critical areas that they are trying to develop, and expressed a need to identify partners who are action oriented and that can work collaboratively on targeted problem solving programs.  

At the invitation of Sameer Barde, Assistant Secretary General of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the UM group also meet in New Delhi with approximately 50 representatives of the food and pharmaceutical industries in India, along with V.N. Gaur of FSSAI.  The audience confirmed a high need for capacity building in this area.  There was a lively discussion on how best to improve both the food safety systems for exports and that of the domestic markets.  Currently, the focus is on the former but increasingly there is an increased call to make the systems equivalent.

This trip was highly successful in terms of training and branching out to international governments for future collaborations.  CFS³ and JIFSAN look forward to following up all disucssions in future visits to India.