The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN) announced on Monday that a team of seafood specialists is in Bangladesh this week training local officials on aquaculture safety and quality control techniques.
The trip’s goal is to help Bangladesh improve the safety and quality of its farmed seafood for both domestic and international markets.
“Collaborating with other countries in this way not only helps to improve the quality and safety of their domestic product, but also what they export to the United States and other countries around the world,” said Murray Lumpkin, M.D., FDA’s deputy commissioner for international programs.
The trip is part of the Good Aquacultural Practices Training Program developed by a team of seafood specialists in 2006 and piloted in Vietnam. The program is a joint effort between the FDA, University of Maryland and Virginia Tech and has been conducted in Thailand and Indonesia.
The training will include lectures, demonstrations, site visits, and workgroup activities. Using a “train-the-trainer” model, those who successfully complete the program will be qualified to continue training others in their country.
“Because of the rapid development of aquaculture, FDA’s role in protecting the public health is more important than ever,” said Stephen Sundlof, D.V.M., Ph.D., director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “Cooperative programs such as this will help ensure that accepted Good Aquacultural Practices are adopted and practiced around the world.”
