The draft food safety and traceability in the Arab Maghreb countries

The project

It is proposed as part of the investment program in the Mediterranean (Invest in Med) and funded by the European Commission project.

The presentation of the project

The project aims to enhance the skills of workers in the agriculture sector in the three Maghreb countries (Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco) ensuring resources and advanced technology in the field of food safety.

The role

Defining the methodology adopted in the program of the United Nations on traceability in Egypt (Etrace) and apply in the those countries, so that the farmers’ production in the said North African countries would be in conformity with the method of traceability in order to be promoted for exportation to Europe.

Project activities

The project has four main activities :

• Technical assistance (May 2009) : An expert -from Egyptian project on food safety and traceability – has assessed the situation of food safety and traceability in the three North African countries, which allowed him to identify the needs in the field of training and technical and technological support, hence the development of an appropriate plan of action and a selective program for 12 representatives of the countries mentioned.
• The Training of Trainers (June 2009) : 12 North African countries involved in the project attended a training assignment held in Egypt; which allowed the participants to learn the method implemented by the proposed traceability in Egypt in order to apply it in all Maghreb countries, and explore methods and techniques that will enable farmers to match their products traceability program in order to develop exports to the European Continent…
• A Workshop exchange between North and South in order to share best practices in the field of food security in the Mediterranean region (19 November 2009): This workshop was attended by agricultural organizations, centers for capacity building competitiveness, and support for entrepreneurship institutions, to explore and exploit the possibilities of cooperation and partnership between the two sides.
• Forum of Businessmen (20-21 November 2009) : This forum was held for two days at the International Exhibition of Agriculture, the Agricultural Mechanization and Fisheries. It was attended by a delegation of 30 Euro-Mediterranean enterprises and about 70 companies active in the Maghreb agriculture and food industries.