Business | Markets
Standards set for 700 food products
As many as 700 standard specifications have been set for the food sector in the UAE, relying mostly on the international specifications issued by Codex, according to the text of a speech by Minister of Economy Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri.
- By Himendra Mohan Kumar, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:02 May 26, 2008
Abu Dhabi: As many as 700 standard specifications have been set for the food sector in the UAE, relying mostly on the international specifications issued by Codex, according to the text of a speech by Minister of Economy Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri.
The speech was delivered by Walid Bin Falah Al Mansouri, director general of the Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Met-rology (Esma) at a conference in Abu Dhabi.
Walid Bin Falah Al Mansouri also said Esma plans to establish a UAE Codex Committee that will be assigned all codex-related activities.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission was created in 1963 by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Health Organisation (WHO) to develop food standards, guidelines and related texts such as codes of practice under the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme.
The purpose was to protect the health of the consumers and ensure fair trade practices, and promote coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international organisations.
"We have established quality standards for food items that include cereals, cooking oil, meat and poultry products, milk products and water," Ahmad Al Rumaithi, deputy director of the standards department of Esma told Gulf News.
Should the government contain middlemen in the market? Do you think a consumer forum for residents to discuss prices will help bring down prices? Why? Tell us at letter2editor@gulfnews.com or fill in the form bellow to send your comments.
Your comments
I think the government can contain the middlemen in the market. Everything is possible if they will do it. They can even set up a price monitoring council which in turn reports to the proper authority so nobody will go beyond the suggested retail price. A consumer forum will be useless if the government will not act against the escalating price, so no need for the forum. What the government should do is to create a price control council so prices will not go haywire.
Roberto
Dubai,UAE
Posted: May 26, 2008, 11:38
Yes. I do believe that a consumer forum is vital to build awareness and clarity in the varied pricing of the same product. However, what is more vital beyond this is the business model currently applied in the food market and its impact on the prices paid by the consumers. Several B2B transactions are currently part of the food supply chain with the two extreme ends - the manufacturer (the first B in the chain) and the consumer (C - the lag end of the chain) benefiting little from this. Apart from a forum to discuss prices, a revamping of the current model and re-engineering the chain is most vital to contain inflation in the food pricing - a B2C model. At least, this should be available as an option to the consumers - perhaps through the use of technology. Though retail chains are preferred as they bring varieties to the shelf, the distribution chain is something that the industry could try to avoid, thereby cutting down margins significantly. Increasing efficiency and deploying just-in-time techniques to avoid hoarding costs are all going to be part of this. But, in the end, the smaller the chain, the higher the chances of containing the growing inflation.
Sunanda
Dubai,UAE
Posted: May 26, 2008, 08:51
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