KATHMANDU: Under the European Union-funded Trade and Private Sector Development (TPSD) programme, a seminar was organised on Tuesday to make private dairy sector familiar in how to enhance quality of dairy products. The programme with an investment of Euro six million intended to make people aware that all foods, along with milk and milks products, may cause illness. In the seminar, information about possibilities of contamination in different phases of milk processing was discussed. The need of hygienic control through every process was stressed in the programme. 'A more systematic approach to quality control can expand productivity and market opportunities with healthier, tastier dairy products,' Andreas Roettger, Head of Cooperation of the EU Delegation in Nepal said. It can help save energy, lower the carbon footprint and save costs, he added. DFTQC Director General Sanjeev Kumar Karn took the opportunity to remind all that milk products are a rich and convenient source of nutrients, but stressed the need to maintain quality in the products. If the quality is enhanced, it can be exported to international market as well, he expressed. Meanwhile, the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC) is launching a pilot project to assist various dairy enterprises in implementing Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), Good Hygiene Practice (GHP) and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) in the dairy sector, under the TMSD programme. The programme is expected to begin in September 2016. A statement issued by the DFTQC and the European Union informed today that around 500,000 households are engaged in the dairy market and this can contribute highly to economic growth and poverty reduction in the country.