Sri Lanka has launched its first National Food Safety Policy, creating an overarching national framework intended to strengthen food-safety governance across the country.
The policy was developed under the leadership of the Ministry of Health and Mass Media, through its Food Control Administration Unit.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations supported its development through the European Union-funded BESPA programme.
Sri Lanka already has laws and institutions dealing with food safety, but previously lacked a single overarching national policy coordinating food-safety work across institutions and sectors.
The new policy establishes a national framework covering the food chain from production to consumption.
It promotes a coordinated, preventive and risk-based approach to food safety.
Policy priorities
Among its priority areas are stronger food-safety governance and institutional coordination, improved food controls throughout the food chain, stronger legislation, standards and regulatory systems, improved surveillance and stronger laboratory capacity.
The policy also emphasises better risk assessment and analysis, communication and public education, capacity development, and monitoring and evaluation.
The policy is intended to improve protection of public health while also strengthening confidence in Sri Lanka's food system.
It is also expected to support the country's agriculture, food-production and trade sectors by improving the overall food-safety framework.
Implementation of the policy is expected to be supported by a proposed updated Food Act.
That proposed legislation is important to distinguish from the policy itself.
The updated Food Act has not yet become law merely because the National Food Safety Policy has been launched.
The policy therefore represents the national strategic framework, while future legislative and implementation measures will determine how many of its objectives are put into practice.