Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, June 23, 2011—
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the Mongolian Food Industry Association are helping raise public awareness on food-safety issues and promote the adoption of international food-safety practices and standards among Mongolian food business operators to boost consumer confidence in their products and improve their products’ export potential.
On June 24, IFC will participate in the Mongolia Food Safety Forum 2011, organized by the Mongolian Food Industry Association and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Light Industry. IFC will address current challenges on food safety in Mongolia, suggest possible solutions, and share its global knowledge and expertise on the issue. The forum will be attended by more than 150 participants from the government, business community, and academia.
“The forum provides an opportunity for state agencies, nongovernmental organizations, international organizations, businesses, and manufacturers to jointly discuss and exchange ideas on Mongolia’s food safety policy and its strategy on food supply, quality, safety inspections, and prices,” said D. Terbishdagva, President of the Mongolian Food Industry Association and a member of parliament. “I fully support activities on food safety-related inspections reforms that are carried out by the government under the guidance of IFC.”
Launched in 2009, IFC’s business inspection reform program helps the government make inspection rules and practices more transparent, efficient, and less costly. It also helps introduce best practices in the inspection process of food business operators.
With assistance from IFC, the General Agency for Specialized Inspections, the main inspecting body in Mongolia, has adopted more than 10 checklists this year to be used during inspections of food business operators. IFC, together with the association, also has conducted a series of training workshops on food-safety international best practices for private businesses.
“Our collaboration with the Mongolian Food Industry Association is a new step for IFC to create opportunity for small and medium businesses to increase their knowledge on safety,” said Hyun-Chan Cho, IFC Country Manager for China and Mongolia. “Going forward, we plan to replicate this model with other public and private institutions to further support business inspection reforms.”
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries. We create opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We do so by providing financing to help businesses employ more people and supply essential services, by mobilizing capital from others, and by delivering advisory services to ensure sustainable development. In a time of global economic uncertainty, our new investments climbed to a record $18 billion in fiscal 2010. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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