The Hindu : National centre for food quality opened

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

National centre for food quality opened

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Jan. 6. A national centre for Food Quality Safety Hygiene Programme (HACCP) certification has been set up in the State.

Inaugurating the centre at a function here today, the Industries Minister, P. K. Kunhalikutty, said this centre, which would function in association with the Kerala Bureau of Industrial Promotion (K-BIP), would facilitate the HACCP certification for food industry and vendors of food products. The Minister also launched a web site of the centre.

The national centre for HACCP certification is envisaged as an organisation providing professional and cost effective assessment, training and certification to the food industry for ensuring internationally acceptable quality standards for food products.

All activities of the centre are described in the centre's web site, www.haccpindia.org. The site will have updates on international food safety norms and export/import regulations of various countries in the food sector, the details of training programmes conducted by it and also online facility for applying for the certification.

It will be an interactive web site through which all queries will be answered immediately.

The Minister also released a CD ROM got up by the K-BIP providing 1,000 project ideas for small-scale entrepreneurs in the food sector.

According to the K-BIP, the CD covers a wide spectrum of sectors and will be useful not only to the existing entrepreneurs, but also to those who want to venture into the sector.

Mr. Kunhalikutty said the official web site of the Industries Department, www.keralaindustry.org, was now providing an online facility for the entrepreneurs to register their units with the Government free of cost.

He said this facility was meant to ensure the creation of a comprehensive database on products, manufacturers and exporters of the State.

The database will serve the purpose of a directory on who are the manufacturers and exporters in the State in each category of products.

The directory has been classified under 16 categories like agro products, biotechnology, herbal and Ayurveda, Information Technology and related services, metal and mechanical products, rubber products, etc.

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National centre for food quality opened