BILL UNDERWAY FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF AGENCY ON HYGIENE AMONG FOOD VENDORS—–NGO DG
A Non-Governmental Organization, The Nigeria Food Vendors Bio-Data Collation Agency, held a re-training and forensic verification for its officers to ensure proper food handling in the country.
Director General of the agency, Mr Nicholas Karimu addressing the participants said the transformational stages of the agency has resulted to national assembly’s consideration of the report of the committee on healthcare services to fully establish the agency as a formal national organization.
He said that the bill currently at its third reading in the NASS will enable the country to have a formal agency responsible for regulating, training and capturing of all food vendors, to help address food safety, mishandling and issues of poisoning.
“As we await the third reading, we humbly call on all the house of representatives members to critically look at the various benefits such as job creation, youth empowerment and safe food for the entire populace,” he said.
He said that the Organization since inception in 2014, has been aggressively promoting food hygiene standards practices all over the nation with a specific mandate of ensuring good food for better health.
He pointed out that the importance of regular training and national screening cannot be overemphasised as the agency is dedicated to food vendors’ bio-data capturing to apply the best hygiene and safe food handling standard practices and easy traceability system of any food poisoning and mishandling cases in the country.
The DG said that the knowledge acquired from the four-day training will go a long way to address bad level of food safety and hygiene practices adding that he is confident that the participants in the training have gathered relevant information, knowledge and skills needed to carry out their tasks.
He advised all food related agencies to put selfish and personal interest aside and support the bill as the country will fully benefit from its overall impact.
