National Food Safety Policy

The National Food Safety Policy is a national sectoral policy of Jamaica. Its main goal is to advance the national food safety and food security systems based on national and international standards aimed at safeguarding human, animal, plant and environmental 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.
For food safety, the Policy recommends that the Government rationalise existing legislation and promulgate modern food safety legislation in keeping with international standards, and review and institute harsher penalties for non-compliance to legislation. Government will, where applicable, develop and/or strengthen existing systems in the domestic trade of food and food products and also to meet the requirements of Jamaica’s international trading partners. It will also facilitate the establishment of systems that ensure traceability from ‘farm to fork’. The Government will also establish a mechanism for coordinating food safety research within the context of current initiatives addressing science and technology; create a framework for partnerships with the scientific community and other stakeholders in food safety research; use research to inform policy and to advance the expansion of export potential, whilst enhancing efficiency in production; allocate adequate resources to conduct or engage in applied/adaptive research with local and international partners, where relevant and practical; institute food safety systems which places the responsibility for producing safe foods at all critical stages of the food chain; strengthen collaborative mechanisms to address the current approach to food safety in times of disasters and emergencies; provide the necessary resources to address basic food safety requirements during disasters/emergencies; and develop appropriate food safety systems to address emerging food safety risks.
The food safety functions will be coordinated through three institutional arrangements, namely an Inter-Ministerial Food Safety Committee, a National Food Safety Council and a Secretariat. Monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the policy will be the responsibility of the policy division in the portfolio Ministry that will have overall responsibility for food safety. 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.