Archive for the 'Introduction' Category
Agricultural commodity and food standards are used as references for manufacturing, trade, exports and imports and certifications, are rather done on voluntary than compulsory basis because people see the benefits of harmonization, their production standards to international accepted. However if necessities on consumer health or export competitiveness arise, they may soon be made compulsory. Although there are no existing laws demanding mandatory safety standards for food and agriculture commodity, ACFS can ask for cooperation from other authorized bodies to pass such laws. For instance, ACFS could ask the Food and Drug Administration to pass a law that specifies levels of toxic residues. However ACFS will always listen to opinions from all steakholders before it passes any standard, either voluntarily or compulsorily.
Any standard set by ACFS will cover all elements of safety and hygiene of human beings, animals and plants and qualifications of specific consumer product?s both food and non-food. Among standardizations are Good Agricultural Practice or GAP, toxic residues standards, and method for identification of animal disease. ACFS divides its standardizations into three categories commodity standards, practice system standards and general safety standards.
Commodity Standards are set as national references for production, domestic and international trade, and guarantees of products. The standards cover both safety and qualifications of products that consumers need or minimum qualification of basic agriculture commodities such as those of jasmine rice, durian, mangoes, asparagus, orchids, beef, pork, fish, etc. continue reading »
February 27 2008 | Introduction | No Comments »
For Manufacturing Farmers, manufacturer and exporters can use these standards as benchmarks to improve quality of their production and products, which will help grading their goods in accordance with the national and international levels.
For Trade In the past, buyers usually set out specifications for goods they wanted to buy; different buyers had different specifications. In other words, there were no standards set for products or quality of products that everyone could refer to. Therefore standardizations of products for their quality, size, or taste will help create enchmarks for both buyers and sellers, which will also help establish fair trade for both sides. ACFS has set a target to issue standards for the whole food chain of agriculture ommodities. For instance, the standardization of jasmine rice will start from characteristics of paddy, unhusked rice and white rice. This chain involves everyone from farmers, millers, traders, packaging factories, and exporters. The standard of jasmine rice will cover both elements of product quality and its safety for consumers. ACFS also issued a Good Agriculture Practice for Thai jasmine rice, which falls under the agencys concept of standardization covering from paddy fields to dining table. It is the same standard set for domestically sold and exported products.
For Certification The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative?s food safety strategy has set a target to register and certify farms of plants, fishery and livestock to standardize their practice by using GAP as an evaluation tool. ACFS is obliged to set the standards of GAP in fields that farmers need and go along with the plans of action for certification by agencies in the ministry, namely the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Fishery and the Department of Livestock Development. Then ACFS standards will be communicated to farmers by the three departments and including the Department of Agriculture Promotion and the Department of Cooperative Promotion. These three certification agencies will then use ACFS standards to evaluate those farms.
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February 27 2008 | Introduction | No Comments »
Are the laws different in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland?
Yes, although there are many similarities.
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 applies only to England and Wales. Secondary legislation and codes of practice made under the Act can be made separately for England and Wales, although there will be many elements of both that are very similar or the same.
More information about the secondary legislation and codes of practice that apply to animal welfare in England can be found here (secondary legislation page). More information about animal welfare in Wales can be found here.
The Scottish Parliament passed its own Animal Health and Welfare Act 2006, which applies to the whole of Scotland. More information can be found here.
The principal legislation relating to Northern Ireland is the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 1972, which can be found here.
What does the ‘duty of care’ mean?
“Duty of care” is a legal phrase which means that someone has an obligation to do something. Prior to the Animal Welfare Act 2006, people only had a duty to ensure that an animal didn’t suffer unnecessarily. The new Act keeps this duty but also imposes a broader duty of care on anyone responsible for an animal to take reasonable steps to ensure that the animal’s needs are met. This means that a person has to look after the animal’s welfare as well as ensure that it does not suffer. The Act says that an animal’s welfare needs include:
a suitable environment (how it is housed);
a suitable diet (what it eats and drinks);
the ability to exhibit normal behaviour patterns;
any need it has to be housed with, or apart from, other animals; and
protection from pain, suffering, injury and disease.
I’m not really sure what this would mean in practice. Where can I find more information to help me properly care for my pet?
Your vet can give you advice about healthcare and your animal’s needs. However, your first port of call for general information may be a specific club or society for your type of pet. There are also several charities and organisations who may be able to help you with specific questions.
Battersea Dogs’ Home
Blue Cross
British Horse Society
British Veterinary Association
Cats Protection
Dogs’ Trust
International League for the Protection of Horses
The Kennel Club
PDSA
Pet Care Trust
RSPCA
Wood Green
Please note that Defra is not responsible for the accuracy of advice given by external bodies.
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February 26 2008 | Introduction | No Comments »
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