Friday, July 5, 2013

Seafood processing plant awaits HACCP certification


By Venus May H. Sarmiento

DAGUPAN CITY, Jul 5 (PIA) - The long idle Seafood Processing Plant in Dagupan City is now awaiting the HACCP certification after its ownership and management was turned over to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) recently.
This was bared by Dr. Westly Rosario, chief of the National Integrated Fisheries and Technology Development Center (NIFTDC), saying the management problem is now settled. Rosario said the plant used to be comparable to a family house where the parents did not identify who among their children will own the house.
 He said, the youngest child, uncertain if he will be the heir to the house, refuses to repair and invest money on it. He was referring to the controversial management of the plant in the past years where both the city government and the BFAR claim ownership.
 “Ngayon, malinaw na kung sino ang magpapatakbo ng planta (Now it is clear on who will run the plant),” he said. Since BFAR is now the legal manager of the plant, its request for funding and repair are now approved and is now awaiting the certification from the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP). Among the expected improvement in the plant are the installation of faucets which are foot- operated and the replacement of rust-stricken gadgets. “The bottomline is, this plant will now run,” he said.
 The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system is an internationally accepted system of preventative food safety management and certification applying to food manufacturers and processors. HACCP regulations are a set of seven standards for the identification and control of safety hazards. In order to be eligible for HACCP certification, the standards must be put in place exactly. These standards include hazard analysis, critical control point, critical limits, monitoring procedures, corrective actions, verification and record keeping. HACCP standards are proactive and preventative, rather than a reactive approach to food safety. (PIA1-Pangasinan)

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