The online training on risk-based inspection of dairy FBOs took place on 21 December 2022. About 400 participants, including the representatives of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine (MAPFU), central office of the State Service of Ukraine of Food Safety and Consumer Protection (SSUFSCP), specialists of the SSUFSCP Main Directorates and authorized veterinarians from all over Ukraine, joined the event. This number of participants shows the importance of this topic as implementation of the effective control system will contribute to production and sale of safe dairy products.
During his welcome speech Mykola Bilous, Head of the State Control Directorate, Department for Food Safety, Veterinary Medicine and Control in Organic Production, SSUFSCP, thanked Switzerland and QFTP experts for continued support in aligning the approaches to state control of dairy FBOs with the EU requirements, given the current course of Ukraine. He noted that the training was a great opportunity for regional specialists to gain knowledge, experience, and get answers to their questions.
Igor Kravchenko, QFTP Local Program Manager, stressed that Switzerland started to provide technical assistance to SSUFCP in the frame of the previous Milk Safety Project back in 2016. Given the importance of integrating risk-based concepts into SSUFSCP’s routine work, QFTP continues to provide the specialists with knowledge and tools for implementing the effective system of control of production and sale of safe dairy products.
The aim of this training was to raise the SSUFSCP specialists and authorized veterinarians’ awareness about risk-based inspection of dairy FBOs.
Thus, Nataliya Schyrova, Head of Food Safety Division, Department of State Policy in Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, MAPFU, highlighted the legal framework for risk-based inspection and recent legislative changes in requirements for quality and safety of milk and dairy products.
Viktoria Lets, Senior National Long-Term Advisor for the Dairy Sector Component, QFTP, told what risk-based inspection is and how it differs from the traditional approach to inspection.
Vitaliy Bashynskyi, Consultant of Dairy Sector Component, QFTP, presented the guidelines on risk-based inspection of FBOs’ compliance with requirements for safety and quality of milk and dairy products. The guidelines, developed in the frame of QFTP, will serve as an education and reference tool for inspectors and facilitate a unified approach and understanding of the objects and actions subject to state control.
Tetiana Garkavenko, Senior Advisor for the Dairy Sector Component, QFTP, stressed the importance of implementing the Raw Milk Control Programme based on the Dairy Module for the risk-based inspection, raised awareness about analysis of tendencies based on the TBC and SCC test results, and importance of correct interpretation of test results.
Iryna Vysotska, Dairy Sector Component Coordinator, QFTP, Olena Rodnina, Junior Dairy Sector Component Expert, QFTP, together with Anatolii Gamza, Deputy Head of State Control Division, State Control Directorate, Department for Food Safety, Veterinary Medicine and Control in Organic Production, SSUFSCP, demonstrated the Dairy Module functionality, in particular, Inspector account, and possibility of using the DM data for state control measures.
At the end of the training, Vitaliy Bashynskyi presented the standard operating procedure for state inspectors, state veterinarian inspectors and authorized persons in case of notification of raw milk noncompliance in the DM.
The participants were extremely active during the Q&A session, asking questions and vividly discussing the aspects which are important for integrating risk-based inspection into routine work.
The training materials and recording will be uploaded to the SSUFSCP e-learning platform, where a separate self-learning course will be created. Next year it is planned to organize regional trainings with simulated inspections to practice the theoretical knowledge received during this event.
This event was organized with support of Switzerland in the frame of the Swiss-Ukrainian Project “Higher Value Added Trade from the Organic and Dairy Sector in Ukraine” implemented by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL, Switzerland) in partnership with SAFOSO AG (Switzerland) www.qftp.org and with participation of the Sate Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection.
