The Ministry of Public Health recently organized several workshops on the electronic registration system, which is one of the requirements of the first stage of the new electronic food safety system, which will be launched soon. The workshops aimed at familiarizing attendees and explaining registration steps.
This workshop represents a practical application of the MoPH efforts to streamline registration process in the electronic management system, which will accordingly reflect on improving the compliance of establishments and products with health requirements and specifications.
The last workshop, which was attended by around 360 representatives of food establishments for four consecutive days, presented an integrated explanation of the electronic registration system, which has 4 stages. The first stage is registration of food establishments and includes opening an account on the system and signing up and information about the food establishment; location, license, owner and person in-charge and substitute person. The second stage is “operating information” such basic data, working hours, production volume, vehicles used for food transport, supplier, product documents, and documents required for risk and critical point analysis.
The third stage of registration is “food handlers” and includes basic information and documents. The fourth stage is “products/request to register a food product” which includes basic information, product details, packaging, transportation, ingredients, nutrition facts label and attachments.
Wassan Abdullah Al Baker, Director of the Food Safety and Environmental Health Department, Ministry of Public Health, said in the opening speech of the workshop, “the Food Safety Department seeks to activate the digitization plan for registration of food establishments and products through a new electronic platform; a key requirement for the implementation of an electronic control system that includes the registration of all relevant information on food establishments as well as their products.”
“This step is achieved through implementing the health policy for food safety and the authority vested in the MoPH by virtue of Law No. 8 of 1990 on human food control regulation. The new electronic registration system is increasingly crucial as it aims to cover the largest number of food establishments in the State of Qatar, to ensure that health standards of food establishments and products safety conform with the World Health Organization (WHO) health standards. It also comes in line with the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the Qatar Vision 2030. Furthermore, the new system will also establish a comprehensive database of food establishments to maximize their compliance to the highest levels of health requirements in accordance with the applicable requirements and regulations in the State of Qatar,” Al Baker added.
She also said, “the new electronic system provides easier and safer means of communication between food establishments and regulators, enabling them to obtain the required approvals and certifications. It also ensures that domestically processed food products comply with the applicable requirements and are reviewed by MoPH specialists before their circulation in local markets. The electronic registration of food establishments in the State of Qatar, launched by the Food Safety and Environmental Health Department, MoPH, is increasingly important as it enhances the level of quality of food establishment, provides protection of the public health and decrease health risks.”
The Food Safety and Environmental Health Department, MoPH, will be launching the Food Safety Electronic System in collaboration with the Information Systems Department and the system supplier.
This system is one of the key national projects to manage the food control process in Qatar through a well-controlled system that includes 3 integrated electronic systems to control imported food, local food and laboratory analysis according to risk analysis methods to ensure the highest level of food safety according to international best practices in this area.
Source: Ministry of Public Health