“The AmCham MENA Council hosts a Digital Video Conference (DVC) with the Director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) Middle East Regional Office”

The AmCham MENA Council hosted a Digital Video Conference (DVC) with the Director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) Middle East Regional Office, Dr. Layla Batarseh, who was visiting Jordan August 18. Dr. Batarseh discussed the role of the USFDA’s International Office, their plans for activities in the Middle East and the role of the USFDA in facilitating Middle Eastern exports to the U.S. market. Dr. Layla Batarseh – contact info: layla.batarseh@fda.hhs.gov

AmCham Egypt members joined AmCham Jordan and AmCham Lebanon through videoconference at the AmCham Egypt premises hosted by Jordan’s Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Hussein Mansour, Director of the Egyptian Food Safety Agency Management Unit; Hassan Shaarawi, Director of the Egyptian Accreditation Council; James Lindley, U.S. Commercial Attaché; Jonathan Gressel, U.S. Agricultural Minister Counselor; AmCham Egypt members, including Mostafa El Halwagy, Americana Group and Chair of the Industry Committee; Dr. Yomna El Sheridy, Special Foods Industry International; Hassan Hassaan, International Drug Agencies; Dr. Magda Shahin, Director of TRAC; Sylvia Menassa, Deputy Executive Director of AmCham Egypt; and AmCham staff attended.

Dr. Batarseh introduced the newly established USFDA regional office for the Middle East that was formed throughout 2007-2008. The need for a regional office was derived from the persistent problems with food-borne illnesses associated with imported food to the United States, which specifically from melamine found in pet food from China and cases of food poisoning from Latin American imports. Alone, the U.S. cannot inspect every food-related item upon entry into the U.S. and therefore created regional offices around the world to increase the quality of food-related products at the export stage. New offices have been established in India, China, Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The Middle East Regional Office covers North Africa, the Levant, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Iran. The goal of the Food and Drug Administration, which reports to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is to protect human health in the United States. The FDA Middle East Regional Office is a health-focused agency that will not address trade issues; therefore the focus is on capacity building to improve public health.

The main objective of the new regional office is to build capacity within the Middle East, namely in communication, trust, regulation, and understanding through holding seminars, webinars, and conferences throughout the region. Dr. Batarseh indicated a preference to establish the regional office within the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan. However, she explained that this decision was not final, as there is a space problem within the embassy. Jordan has recently passed a new food and drug law that is on its way to being fully operational. The FDA office encourages that all countries review their laws and regulation before allowing companies to export to the U.S.

Dr. Batarseh noted that the office hopes to visit Egypt in January 2010. Nevertheless, she is always available via email or phone should anyone have questions. Mr. Halwagy referred to a recent problem encountered by Americana where five containers were rejected since they were not in compliance with the latest regulations. He therefore asked how the agro-industry in Egypt can be adequately and timely informed of any FDA regulation changes prior to shipping in order to avoid rejection at the U.S. border. Dr. Batarseh’s advice was threefold: to register on the FDA website for alerts and changes in regulation, to monitor the Federal Registrar daily, or to hire a law firm in the U.S. that monitors changes.

Mr. Gressel added that it is the obligation of each country in the WTO to establish an inquiry point which receives all WTO notifications as well as notifies the WTO of its domestic changes in regulation. Consequently, it is the responsibility of the inquiry point to disseminate the notification to the private sector to local chambers of commerce, business associations, and related stakeholders. Mr. Shaarawi added that the U.S. should simplify its accreditation process for emerging markets. He asked how he can work with the new FDA regional office to harmonize Egypt’s accreditation with the guidance documents in the U.S. relating to standards regulations. He further noted that both countries should harmonize their standards in compliance with global standards. Dr. Batarseh replied that the USFDA standards are almost entirely compliant with global specifications and the FDA documents illustrate how they are harmonized.

Dr. Mansour stated that the Egyptian Food Safety Agency is currently reviewing all legislation related to food safety. He noted that there are 2,900 laws related to food in Egypt, which is very few compared to the U.S. He affirmed that Egypt requires technical assistance to help upgrade the laws and administration for food safety regulations. He added that food quality is important to the Egyptian economy since 20% of Egypt’s foreign trade is with the U.S.

AmCham Lebanon noted that the new FDA regional office’s mission should be the following: first, to help with capacity building on health standards; two, to initiate communication; and three, to upgrade export compliance prior to shipments. AmCham Lebanon further notes that all countries under the new USFDA Middle East regional office should work towards harmonizing their food safety standards. They proposed to have a workshop in the near future on harmonizing standards, which they will announce throughout the MENA Council.