CCC-led committee to develop ‘road map’ to resolve fruit and vegetable sector issues
Thursday, 3 April 2014 00:00
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A workshop on sanitary and phytosanitary standards and export of fresh fruits and vegetables to the European Union for food and drug inspectors, exporters, processors and other relevant stakeholders was successfully concluded recently at the Renuka City Hotel.
An outcome of the workshop was the formation of a committee consisting of all stakeholders, under the leadership of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce to develop a ‘road map’ to help resolve prevailing issues in the fruit and vegetable sector in Sri Lanka.
The two-day interactive workshop consisted several presentations made by the local and international experts of the sector.
Yahajeewa De Silva, former Head of the National Plant Quarantine Service of the Department of Agriculture, who is also an expert on sanitary and phytosanitary standards, stressed on the importance of adopting quarantine measures. He also outlined the economic damage the country will face with the introduction of pests from abroad.
De Silva also enlightened about the International Plant Protection convention (IPPC), to secure common and effective action to prevent the spread and introduction of pests of plants and plant products and to promote appropriate measures for their control. Huub Stoetzer, an ITC consultant, spoke under the title of ‘European requirements for Exports of Fruits and Vegetables to the European Union’.
He also dealt with the overview of the legislative requirements in exporting fruits and vegetables to the European Union. Dr. Sumith Jayakody, Research Officer, Registrar of Pesticides Office spoke on the importance of taking steps to reduce the misuse of pesticides and managing pesticide risks. He listed out the pesticides banned in Sri Lanka and the maximum residue levels and ways and means of reducing the use of pesticides, by adopting good agricultural practices and resorting to integrated pest management to control pests.
Ludovica Ghizzoni, an ITC Adviser, made a presentation on the ‘ITC Standards Map, a comparative analysis and a review of voluntary standards’. Anoma Senarathne, Research Officer, Food Research Unit, Department of Agriculture, who made a presentation, stated that a large volume of fruits and vegetables produced at present is wasted as a result of poor post harvest handling.
T. Bambaradeniya of Rajarata Ellawala Horticulture Farm which is adopting global Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) standards and Channa Madawala of Nidro Supply Ltd. a fresh fruits and vegetable exporting company, made presentations with respect to the practical issues and challenges faced by them in exporting fruits and vegetables.
