National Food Safety Policy (2017-2026)

The National Food Safety Policy is a national sectoral policy of Maldives for the period of 2017-2026. Its main vision is to advance the national food safety system based on national and international standards aimed at safeguarding human, animal and plant health and the facilitation of trade through the application of science based principles, enabled by an integrated institutional framework, effective interagency collaboration and appropriate legislation, as well as a strengthened public/private sector partnership.
The Policy aims to ensure food safety. To this end it targets to ensure the supplied food are safe, nutritious, and quality by means of food production, processing, imports, retails, and services including by enhancing access to safe, healthy and quality food for domestic consumption; enabling increased level of safe, healthy and quality food imports; increasing efficiency in safe and nutritious food marketing, trade, distribution, handling and storage and ensuring availability of clean and safe drinking water. Further, the document also aims to strengthen national food safety framework, and implementation and coordination of responsible agencies in food safety control and monitoring activities by developing and enforcing legislations to promote food safety; strengthening food safety and quality control and monitoring systems; strengthening food safety emergency response system including traceability and recall systems and strengthening coordination and information sharing among agencies involving in food safety activities. Moreover, the Policy envisages to promote partnerships and networking for increased public awareness, and participation and contribution of stakeholders through promoting nutrition education and awareness on safe and healthy food habits; and strengthening partnerships and networking for increased participation and contribution of consumer and food business operators. Finally, the document provides that it will build capacity and enhance capability on training, education and research on food safety by developing systematic and non-systematic education on food safety for personnel involved in food safety activities and encouraging and supporting research in food safety.
Increasing the resilience of livelihoods to disasters is among the objectives of this Policy. To this end, the document aims to establish Food Safety Emergency Response systems and integrate disaster management strategy for food safety in the national disaster management framework.
Together with the relevant responsible ministries, the high level Inter-Ministerial Food Safety Committee and National Codex Committee will play the most important role in policy and technical terms during the implementation of the Policy. Monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the Policy will be the responsibility of the policy division in the Ministry of Health and Family that will have overall responsibility for health policy. It is anticipated that this Policy will require a full review in 3-5 years of its adoption to ensure progress with local and international developments.