As nations strive toward sustainable human development, it is pertinent to note the significance of food safety as a critical determinant of human health and simultaneously a vital contributor to food security. For Qatar, building a robust food security strategy relies heavily on functioning and efficient food safety measures.
Also, policies toward reducing food waste have been key to the further development of the food sector and are linked to food safety practices. Food monitoring plays a critical role in quality assurance and observance of standards for the import, production, processing, preparation, and disposal of food products. To achieve this, Qatar has optimized and simplified the governance of food standards to monitor food safety in the country effectively and to supervise quality certification.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) inaugurated the electronic food safety system “Watheq.” Inaugurated by the Minister of Public Health H E Dr. Hanan Mohammed Al Kuwari, the electronic system is a food control process based on standard operating procedures subject to international accreditation controls (ISO 17020) through three electronically linked systems. These include controlling imported and exported food, food in the local market, and the electronic management of food analysis laboratories.
According to the minister, the system enhances the efficiency of the Food Safety Department in controlling food across the entire food chain. It ensures the accuracy and rapidness of food control and food tracking in the markets, saves the time to get laboratory results and decreases food-related risks. All this enables the effective implementation of food safety requirements and Qatari regulations.
Also, to ensure multi-agency participation and access, Watheq has been linked with the customs clearance system (Al-Nadeeb) to constitute an integrated platform that contains complete data on food and importers, to ensure efficient inspection of imported and exported food products at all ports in Qatar.
Authorities say since the soft launch of the electronic system, it has registered 3,330 food establishments and 546,551 food products, 9,908 electronic services have been provided, and 138,787 imported food shipments have been inspected.
Authorities also stated that it would launch a food safety mobile application with various specifications and services. The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation has stressed that safe, nutritious and sufficient food is essentially a part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030, reaffirming the interdependence of food safety and food security – this aligns with the Qatar National Vision 2030. It is important to note that Qatar is working to reach 70% food self-sufficiency by 2023 and 100% food security by 2030.
