Germany and Morocco: Working together for safe food
Food and feed must also be safe along global and increasingly complex commodity chains. With a volume of 3.6 billion euros, Morocco is an important trading partner for Germany in North Africa. Against this background, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Moroccan Food Safety Authority (ONSSA). The aim is to strengthen cooperation between the two authorities through a continuous partnership dialogue in consumer health protection "The focal points of the future alliance are the risk assessment of plant protection products and risk communication, especially in connection with foodborne disease outbreaks", says BfR President Professor Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel. This project also implements the Africa concept of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL).
In view of the liberalisation of global trade, it is, in the view of the BfR, indispensable in the sense of consumer health protection that the risk assessment of foodstuffs is harmonised and standardised internationally. In this context, cooperation with the countries of the European Neighbourhood Policy, to which Morocco belongs, is also increasingly important. Therefore, the Memorandum of Understanding with Morocco is an important milestone.
For the first time, BfR and ONSSA worked together with the BMEL and the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) from 2015 to 2018 in the project "Control of plant protection products, fertilisers and growing media". Since then, contact has grown continuously through mutual visits by experts and discussions at management level.
The Moroccan Food Safety Authority (ONSSA) is a scientific body under the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests. It works on behalf of the Moroccan government for consumer protection and in the field of animal and plant health. Within this framework, the ONSSA is also responsible for the risk management of food and feed.
About the BfR
The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) is a scientifically independent institution within the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) in Germany. It advises the German federal government and the German federal states on questions of food, chemical and product safety. The BfR conducts its own research on topics that are closely linked to its assessment tasks.
This text version is a translation of the original German text which is the only legally binding version.