TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA) — The Provincial Government of Bohol has collaborated with the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to provide training and workshops on health and product safety for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) that are into food production in Bohol.
This is to help ensure that food safety and quality standards are met by community-based food processors.
The Bohol provincial government recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the FDA in line with the latter’s “Bigyang Halaga, Bangon MSME (BBMSME)” Project.
The MOA requires the parties to establish, plan and implement a program, provide a coordination mechanism and accountability in implementing the regulatory functions and allocate resources for its effective implementation.
“Together with the FDA’s ‘Bigyang-Halaga, Bangon MSMEs,’ we will intensify our efforts to elevate (MSME) expertise in bringing Boholano products to the world stage while ensuring that their products are within the prescribed standards set by the government,” said Bohol Gov. Erico Aristotle Aumentado in his commitment message.
BBMSME is an FDA project that supports local MSMEs by providing them with access to technical and safety standards in food and cosmetics production as embodied in the Food Safety Act of 2013.
The partnership provides training for MSME personnel on good manufacturing processes (GMP) so they can comply with the food and safety standards and provide inspection guidelines on hygiene and other codes including training in product labelling and pre-packaging.
Dr. Samuel Zacate, FDA director general, said the Bohol provincial government earlier reached out to him to discuss a partnership that will support Boholano MSMEs.
Provincial Administrator Asteria Caberte said she is excited as the partnership will open a wide range of interventions for MSMEs.
Caberte said the MSMEs account for 99.6 percent of the local economic landscape.
“About 90 percent of them may not have the knowledge on GMP and the compliance of food safety standards,” said Caberte. (RAHC/PIA-7/Bohol)
