Kathmandu, April 24:

The country is soon going to have a mechanism to certify the quality of food items that would be exported or imported to the country, as the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives is going to implement the food quality certification system for the first time in Nepal from May 5.

Till date there is no system to certify the quality of food items. This has led to the dumping of many exported food items in foreign countries terming them sub-standard. The European Union had recently rejected tea and honey exported from Nepal, stating that the products contained high pesticide residues.

In this backdrop, the ministry in collaboration with the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC) had formulated directives on ‘Export-Import Inspection and Quality Certification System in Nepal’, which would be implemented by the department. Jiwan Prava Lama, deputy director general of the department, said the directives would come into effect from May 5.

As a member state of the World Trade Organisation, it was necessary to set up the system, which is an integral part of the WTO, to facilitate global trade and ensure food safety, he said.

According to the directives, which outline the procedure for export and import certification system, certification of export items will be voluntary but certification of import items will be mandatory. The department will be the sole certifying agency.

To acquire an export certification, the proponent should submit an application to the department. If the product is of livestock origin, the exporter should also comply with the Livestock Services Act and rules. A technical team from the department would visit the production unit within 15 days of filing the application and draw samples, test them and issue or decline a certificate based on the analysis within seven days.

The approved product or processing unit could then affix ‘Q’ mark on the packets of product as an indication of certified product for export. The export certificate would be valid for a period of 45 days.

For import permit, an application should be submitted to the department with the details of the importer and the product quality and quantity. The importer should also submit a copy of the analysis report of the product from any accredited lab and sample of the product. The department would issue an import permit within seven days of sample analysis. The import permission for a product would be valid for six months.

Shree Ram Ghimire, senior agriculture officer at the ministry, said the directives were meant to promote the private sector, trade and food safety.