Municipality releases food trade control report

The Dubai Municipality has released its bi-annual food trade control report, announcing that 335 companies and more than 20,000 products have been registered in its electronic monitoring system in the first half of this year. The Municipality monitors food establishments and products through the electronic system and the report was issued by the Food Trade Control Section of the Food Control Department. According to the Municipality, four million tonnes of food was imported from June 2010 to January 2011 and exports reached more than three million tonnes. "According to the report, 80,912kg of food items have been [destroyed]. The total food released on conditions is 98,787kg, while the food imported for the purpose of re-exporting reached 121,576kg," Khalid Sharif Al Awadi, director of the Food Control Department, said. "This huge amount of food requires the application of electronic control systems to ensure smooth movement of food trade focusing on food safety and quality. The number of food establishments in the emirate rose by 17.1 per cent in 2010 [to] 13,762 [from] 11,752 in 2009," he added. Rejection The passage of food shipments through Dubai's ports can be rejected for a number of reasons, including whether the country of origin is affected by diseases or epidemic of any kind. "It is necessary to conduct laboratory tests on all shipments of imported food of all kinds, and separate good food from bad. The municipality is also working to prevent the entry of unacceptable shipments such as rotten products or damaged as a result of accumulation of goods during the shipment from the exporting country. Shipments are rejected if the documents submitted are not compatible with the imported product," Eman Al Bastaki, head of the Food Trade Monitoring Section, said.