Food control system assessment tool: introduction and glossary
Food safety and quality series 7.1
Overview
National food control system plays a pivotal role in protecting the health of consumers and ensuring fair practices in food trade. When we are able to assess performance of the system in a comprehensive way, it can identify priority areas of improvement and plan sequential and coordinated activities to reach expected outcomes.
To demonstrate good performance of the system gives an opportunity to Member states for new markets, to improve trading relationships and to build stakeholder confidence domestically as well.
There were several attempts of assessing specific parts of national competencies with regard to food chain or SPS function. In 2019, FAO and WHO jointly developed a comprehensive tool to assist Member states in assessing the effectiveness of national food control system. This tool comprises 25 system competencies under 4 Dimensions.
Structural logic of National Food Control Systems
Two types of assessments can be conducted using the FAO/WHO food control system assessment tool:
Self-assessments: where the government is completely in charge of the implementation of the assessment.
FAO/WHO facilitated assessments: where the implementation is externally facilitated by FAO/WHO through the provision of technical support and overall coordination of the process.
