Safe food

President Maithripala Sirisena has introduced a nutrition month but more needs to be done in making food safe for consumption in Sri Lanka.

A study by the Institute of Policy Studies shows Sri Lanka has to unify its safeguards of monitoring and testing food. Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) refer to the upper legal levels of a concentration for pesticide residues in or on food or feed based on good agricultural practices and to ensure the lowest possible consumer exposure. MRLS have been widely adopted by countries around the world; developed countries, compared to developing ones have adopted much higher standards.

In the case of Sri Lanka the use of pesticides is governed by the Control of Pesticides Act of 1980, IPS points out. The Act does indicate that food crops should not contain pesticide residues in excess of levels as “may be prescribed”. However, Sri Lanka has not yet prescribed a national list of MRLs. Under such circumstances imports are merely subject to the exporting country MRLs or shippers have the discretion to employ the codex standard. In the absence of MRLs, exporters do not have any incentive to comply with higher standards and as such there exists a heightened risk that substandard produce with unsafe levels of pesticide/chemical residue are unwittingly ingested by Sri Lankan consumers. There also exists the very real possibility that food contaminated with chemicals which have been banned in other countries on grounds of serious human health consideration enter the market in the absence of such regulations. Whilst establishing MRLs is considered a priority, it is also key that governments bolster the testing and conformity assessment capabilities of local institutions/testing laboratories both private and public through investments in equipment and human resources to complement and enforce regulations. Exporters in Sri Lanka have complained of the lack of adequate testing facilities within the country leading to increased compliance costs and delays owing to having products being tested abroad. Likewise in relation to imports the lack of testing facilities may lead to inefficiencies and as a consequence increase compliance costs leading to a lowering of consumer welfare.

In Sri Lanka, the task of ensuring food safety is conducted in a rather ad hoc and piecemeal manner, tasks are dispersed to a number of government agencies and departments such as the Department of Agriculture, the Consumer Affairs Authority, the Sri Lanka Standards Institute, Atomic Energy Authority, Sri Lanka Customs – Quarantine Department, and the Ministry of Health, based on their respective areas of expertise. 

Food safety is however a more cross-cutting issue and effectively tackling the issue requires collaborative effort by all agencies concerned. In this light it is envisaged that an overarching independent body/institution along the lines of the European Food Safety Authority, The Food and Drug Administration of the United States and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency be established to better identify and coordinate actions to address perceived food safety risks. With the growing incidence of food safety risks it is fundamental that regulation be introduced to regulate the flow of imported produce. Sri Lanka has a long way to go in effectively tackling the issue. A good first step would be to introduce a nationally acceptable list of pesticides/chemicals and their MRLs. Due prudence however must be exercised when designing such regulations to ensure unwarranted outcomes do not materialise. Investments must be made in testing and certification facilities to ensure effective implementation of regulations. Yet, the need of the hour is the establishment of an overarching body, to better coordinate all these issues so that consumers in Sri Lanka can be ensured of better food safety.