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Food Safety Agency to start its activity from January

28 December 2017 15:24 (UTC+04:00)
Food Safety Agency to start its activity from January

By Sara Israfilbayova

The Food Security Agency of Azerbaijan will start full-fledged work starting from January 1, 2018 and to date a draft law on food security has been prepared.

Chairman of the Food Safety Commission and Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Ali Ahmadov noted at the commission’s meeting that the Commission was established to ensure the activity of the Food Safety Agency, created by the decree of President Ilham Aliyev “On additional measures to improve the food security system in the Republic of Azerbaijan” dated February 10, 2017.

He added that the Food Safety Commission actively participated in the preparation of Regulations of the Food Safety Agency during the current year, which was approved by the head of state.

“Moreover, the Commission has divided the powers between the relevant structures and, having prepared the relevant document, submitted it to the Cabinet of Ministers. Naturally, this document needs to be reworked,” said Ahmadov.

“I believe that after the completion of all work, this document will also be approved and the Food Safety Agency will begin its activities on its basis. Meanwhile, a draft law on food security was prepared and presented to the head of state, which will be presented to the Azerbaijani parliament in the near future,” added the deputy prime minister.

Chairman of the Food Security Agency was appointed Goshgar Tahmazli.

During a conference on the development of sericulture, tobacco and hazelnut production in Gakh in August, President Aliyev stressed that food security is one of the priority areas of social policy in Azerbaijan.

“Thanks to the measures to be taken in the years ahead, we will have even great export potential. We provide ourselves with chicken by 100 percent, with milk and dairy products by about 80 percent,” the head of state stressed. “Azerbaijan exports large amounts of fruit and vegetables. That is, food security is a key priority issue in the country. I can say that the achievements made in this field are very pleasing. There will be even greater results in the years ahead”.

Moreover, currently, creation of 42 agro-parks in 28 regions of the country is underway. In years to come, the products produced in these agro-parks will be exported to large markets, and domestic food security will be ensured.

Earlier, Samir Valiyev, Head of Administration of the Ministry of Economy during his interview with Azernews told that agro-parks are of particular importance for ensuring food security, developing entrepreneurship in the agrarian sector, increasing the competitiveness of agricultural products, expanding the export potential and increasing employment.

“The introduction of modern technologies in agro-parks will create favorable conditions for the production of competitive agricultural and food products. All this will contribute to the development of the regions as a whole. Moreover, the creation of agro-parks will provide facilities to meet the demand for raw materials in such sectors as horticulture, poultry and livestock. Import of food products will be reduced, while export opportunities for agricultural products will be expanded,” he said.

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