27/09/05 PETALING JAYA, (Bernama) -- Food security, safety andsustainability issue should be part of the branding strategy for theMalaysian palm oil industry, chairman, Malaysian Palm Oil Association(MPOA), Datuk Sabri Ahmad said here Tuesday.

He said that by adopting various approaches available locally and ininternational markets, the palm oil industry could address the foodsecurity, safety and sustainability issues systematically and confidently.

Malaysia, he said practised a consultative approach when dealing withissues on food security and food safety.

The system involves close collaboration among government, non-governmentalorganisations and the industry, he said in the proceedings compilation onfood security, food safety and sustainability at the International PalmOil Congress (PIPOC) 2005.

Sabri said that the government took care of the overall technicalsupervision on food safety activities such as the formulation oflegislation, code of practice, guidelines and policies, while the industryand non-governmental organisation were responsible for producing safe andhigh quality food and act as pressure groups, respectively in ensuringsafe food for consumers.

The oil palm industry through MPOA was also in the process of adopting theFood Chain Approach as advocated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO),

The responsibility for the food supply is shared by all involved in theentire food chain from primary production to final consumption. The outputof this is an assurance that food would not cause harm to the consumerwhen it is prepared and or eaten according to its intended use.

The globalisation of food trade, risk on bio-terrorism and severeconsequences of contaminated food, heightened security and demands fordiscerning consumers, wholesalers and retailers alike, have becomeemerging issues in the Malaysian palm oil industry.

Among the issues related to the food safety are the use and traceabilityof agrochemical in plantations, microbes in palm oil, mineral oilcontamination, heavy metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbon and dioxin.

Hence, he said that a trusting and confident supplier consumerrelationship will be the single most important factor that determines thesuccess and sustainability of the palm oil industry.

By having an integrated quality assurance system in place, the industrywould be able to quickly differentiate and gain significant competitiveadvantage over other palm oil producers outside Malaysia.

MPOA also advocated the use of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP), GoodManufacturing Practices (GMP), Hazard Analysis Critical Control Plan(HACCP) and ISO 9001 for use in the entire chain from growers toconsumers.

-- BERNAMA