Project progress until 18 November 2022
Our “EU Food Safety Project” is a complex whole of 97 different activities evolving over 3 years (from 19 May 2021 to 18 May 2024). These activities are organised in several components. Over 60% of the planned tasks were implemented from Month 1 to Month 18, thanks to the excellent cooperation among the FSP experts, and the TCc counterparts. A summary of the achievements as of mid-November 2022 is presented below.
Component I: Food safety
 | Food business operators (FBOs) bear the primary responsibility for ensuring that food placed on the market is safe.
Restrictive and regular controls must be carried out by the local bodies in the TCc to verify that the hygiene standards for food and feed are met and maintained.
The project has increased the knowledge within the TCc about food safety risks and consumer protection and has promoted an improved understanding of the roles of FBOs, farmers, and veterinary experts concerning food safety.
Targeting the TCc FBOs, control bodies, chambers and associations, the project team prepared training materials and delivered training events and workshops on the following topics: |
- hazards and risks along the production, processing, and distribution of food
- food safety standards, good hygiene requirements and HACCP principles for dairy & meat FBOs
- preparation of individual HACCP plans
- microbiological criteria for foodstuffs
- planning, organisation, and implementation of controls
- sampling procedures and laboratory testing methods
- food safety risk assessment and response to emergencies
- feed hygiene requirements and feed risk assessment
- food safety data management
- financing the costs of controls along the food chain
- implementation of good hygiene practices and HACCP-based own checks at FBO level
- microbiological and residues methods for laboratory staff
- record keeping, labelling, traceability
- use of veterinary medicines and residues monitoring
- requirements for import and trade of animal products in the EU
- food safety data management
Some 28 Turkish Cypriot FBOs from the dairy, meat, and honey sectors were assessed against the applicable hygiene requirements. Each FBO has been supported by the project experts in drawing an action plan for improvement of its adherence to food safety standards. It is remarkable that 24 of the 28 FBOs have been very pro-active along this process, and 4 of them have already been granted a certificate by the TCc ‘veterinary department’ that attests the FBO’s compliance with the general and specific hygiene requirements. The hands-on expert support to the FBOs continues in the form of onsite or distance consultations and hands-on advice.
The capacity of staff performing controls and related activities in the food safety field is also being raised through advice by the project experts along the preparation of procedures, programs, and check lists. Thanks to these interventions, the ‘veterinary department’ (VD) staff has started implementing controls in line with best practice. The project continues providing cooperation for further capacity building in the planning and implementation of controls, with a focus on FBO hazard analysis and HACCP-based procedures, record keeping, and traceability.
The project’s efforts have boosted the awareness and understanding of farmers about the risks of introduction of high impact/exotic animal diseases and about their responsibilities as primary producers in the agri-food chain. The joint efforts of the farmers, the project experts, and the VD aimed at improvement of the hygiene standards and adherence to PDO requirements have resulted in 11 farms being certified by the VD and participating in a pilot “milk channelling system”.
The “milk channelling system” was developed to facilitate the needed traceability system for ensuring that the entire chain of production is carried out in accordance with the EU standards. In this system, milk that is separately collected from the certified dairy farms will be separately transported and processed on a predetermined production line and in a predetermined time range in the selected certified dairy establishments.
In view of enhancing the control throughout the agri-food chain, the project has delivered 10 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), as well as checklists, instructions, and document templates (81 in total). These tools facilitate the daily routines of local bodies, FBOs and farmers in monitoring and verifying adherence to the relevant food, feed, and animal health requirements.
Component II: Animal disease crisis preparedness
| Animal health is the basis of the agri-food chain and a key component of the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy. The preparedness to combat diseases is prescribed in the new EU legislation on animal health as an obligation of the Member States to ensure a fast response in the case of occurrence of a disease calling for immediate eradication measures.
To this end, the project experts have collaborated with the VD in preparing comprehensive contingency plans, operational manuals, and SOPs providing clear instructions on the steps to be followed for ensuring a comprehensive and timely response in the case of a disease outbreak. These documents are currently subject to validation and testing.
The TCc farmers and veterinary experts have been introduced to the good practices and standards regarding farm hygiene, biosecurity, and prevention measures to be applied at animal holdings.
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The general level of awareness about the risk of introducing exotic animal diseases in the northern part of Cyprus has been raised. The understanding of farmers and veterinarians has been improved concerning the importance of prevention and risk reduction measures and the readiness to notify disease suspicion to the local bodies.
The TCc veterinary experts have received sufficient knowledge to increase their capacity for early detection, control, and elimination of high impact exotic animal diseases, and to maintain a favourable animal health status.
Training materials were developed, and training events/workshops delivered on the following topics:
- EU legislation on listed animal diseases and crisis preparedness
- animal disease emergencies, risks, surveillance, prevention
- new animal health law in the EU
- movement and traceability of animals
- anti-microbial resistance
- exotic animal diseases
- farm hygiene and animal health threats
- response to animal disease emergencies
Overall, 65 training events and workshops were delivered under Components I and II, with a total of 1396 registrations since project start for 355 unique participants.
Comprehensive technical reports containing an assessment of the situation, analysis and recommendations were prepared to address key capacity aspects pertinent to food safety and animal disease crisis preparedness in the northern part of Cyprus:
- human resources needed to implement food safety controls and related activities
- knowledge of staff involved in controls
- financial arrangements concerning the local bodies performing controls
- risk-based data collection and data management related to the planning of controls
- FBOs’ situation, gaps and action plans for improvement
- adequacy and effectiveness of the HACCP plans at commercial dairy and meat establishments
- monitoring of zoonosis and residues
- data gaps in the assessment of trends, sources, and agents of zoonosis
- inter-sectorial platform on zoonosis, zoonotic agents and anti-microbial resistance
- disease notification and risk-assessment
- animal disease computerised information system related to animal diseases
- gaps in the traceability of food products; labelling and record keeping procedures to ensure traceability
- pilot “milk channelling system”
- milk control and verification procedures
- residue monitoring programme and implementing procedures
- system for risk-based controls planning
- upgrade of the documented procedures and instructions for controls
- information management system for the data collected during controls
- contingency plan, operational manual and SOPs for Avian Influenza
- capacity building for laboratory staff on microbiological and residues methods
- standard operating procedures in milk and food/feed laboratories
- scope of laboratory accreditation
- improving the laboratory information/data management systems
- overview of the TCc control systems
- capacity of milk, food and feed laboratories to perform testing for control purposes
- plan for control of Salmonella in poultry
- programme for monitoring/surveillance of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy
- crisis preparedness plans and operational manuals
- Foot and Mouth disease status
- general plan for food and feed crisis management
Cross-cutting tasks
The project experts have assessed the system and legal basis for disease notification and have provided scenarios and recommendations. The technical capacity of the relevant local body in terms of equipment and consumables has been analysed, and advice has been provided.
The local staff engaged in management of potential exotic animal disease outbreaks have been familiarised with good practices and with specific disease risk management models. They have been consulted in using the results of such assessments for prevention, surveillance, and contingency planning.
Generic risk assessment of the introduction of economically important animal diseases into the northern part of Cyprus, assessment of the foot and mouth disease status (FMD) based on the World Animal Health Organisation (OIE) questionnaire and analysis of the current FMD risk assessment modalities in the northern part of Cyprus has been carried out as well.
Recommendations for developing a computerised interactive information system for the effective collection and management of disease surveillance data and data on notifiable animal disease outbreaks, including data collection procedures, have been proposed by the project experts.
Visibility and communications
| The project team has been communicating increasingly with the target audience concerning the training events, workshops and individual consultations provided to FBOs.
Leaflets, posters, and guidelines addressing key food safety and animal disease topics are designed, disseminated, and uploaded on our Food Safety Platform:
https://tccfoodsafetyproject.eu |
The visibility and outreach work is carried out in close collaboration with the TCc counterparts:
- ‘veterinary department’
- private veterinary practices
- Milk Marketing Board (SÜTEK)
- union of ‘municipalities’
- Chamber of Industry
- Milk Production Association
- Beekeepers Association
- Chamber of Food Engineers
- Animal Breeders Association
- the pilot farms and FBOs.
Overall, the project strives towards 24 strategic results. The outputs produced till mid-November 2022 pave the way for achieving the following:
Result 1
TCc farmers, FBOs, and consumers are informed and trained about the food safety standards in the EU
Result 3
Staff performing controls and related activities have available written instructions to support their work
Result 8
The pilot dairy FBOs can effectively implement EU-aligned food hygiene and food safety standards and can guarantee the hygiene and safety of the milk products they produce
Result 10
Dairy farmers are capable to effectively implement disease prevention and hygiene requirements at primary production level
Result 13
Traceability procedures are in place at the project’s pilot food establishments
Result 14
Commercial dairy processors are able to demonstrate full product traceability
Result 17
Farmers and consumers are informed and aware about food safety and animal disease risks (concerning antimicrobial resistance, residues of contaminants, heavy metals, etc.) and about the corresponding risk mitigation measures
Result 19
The training materials produced by the project are available to the public through on the online Food Safety Platform