Mozambique joins international network for certification of fruits and vegetables

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique joins international network for certification of fruits and vegetables

12:59 CAT | 12 Feb 2019

File photo: Lusa

The National Institute for Standardisation and Quality of Mozambique (INNOQ) announced today that it will join an international cooperation network for the certification of fruits and vegetables in the country.

INNOQ and the organisation Solidaridad Network Southern Africa will work together to “make products more competitive at national and international level and establish a quality standard for the industry value chain in order to safeguard public health”, the institute says in a communique.

Solidaridad Southern Africa will support INNOQ in acquiring laboratory equipment for the analysis of pesticide residues and hiring a consultant who will set the parameters of a national quality standard for fruits and vegetables.

The work will be developed in connection with two of Mozambique’s major large-scale supermarket chains and will rely on producer and purchaser databases, producing all necessary documentation for approval by international standards (“Global Gap” and subsequent accreditation by ISO 17065), it concludes.

The majority of the Mozambican population grow food, mainly as a subsistence livelihood and to obtain some income in local markets, but without access to markets that require certification, especially at an international level.

The Solidaridad Network consists of eight regional centres around the world, with a secretariat linking them to the Netherlands office of Solidaridad Europe, one of the regional centres.

Source: Lusa