ARMENIA LAUNCHES FOOD RECALL PROJECT
PanARMENIAN.Net
07.05.2009 20:09 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Consumer rights NGOs recently conducted social
polls among public organizations, business structures, certification
bodies and state-government structures. As shown by poll results,
all the above bodies find citizens’ awareness, mutual cooperation and
transparent activities extremely important, Abgar Yegoyan , Chairman of
Consumer Rights Union, told a PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent. "There is
no transparency among different bodies, so it’s necessary to exchange
information on a single Web site," he said.
According to Mr. Yegoyan, the first step has already been made. "Three
month ago, we wrote a letter to the State Inspection on Food Security
and Veterinary at the Ministry of Agriculture, with a request to
provide information on the amount of annual fines. The information
is now available on our Web site," he said, adding that relevant
cooperation among state government bodies also shows the government’s
interest in introducing quality certificates. "Certainly, certificates
do not rule out corruption risks. To raise consumers’ awareness,
we proposed the initiative of creating a Web site," he added.
In this connection, Mr. Yegoyan encouraged private organizations to
work transparently, without avoiding checkups by state bodies. "Primary
importance should be attached to consumers’ opinion, because in
conditions of competitiveness, consumers prefer certified products
conforming to quality standards," he said.
Mr. Yegoyan will participate in ISO – 26 International Workshop to be
held in Canada on May 14. The workshop will be devoted to corporate
liability issues. As noted by Chair of Consumers Rights Union, the
the European states participating in the conference will represent
Romania, Serbia and Armenia.
Yegoyan also added that the organization is elaborating special
food recall procedures. "We have now launched a pilot project in
the sphere of dairy products," he said. According to Mr. Yegoyan,
this will enable consumers to give preference to conscientious food
producers. In such cases the burden of guilt will fall upon sellers,
as producers are always willing to take back their products.
As mentioned by Mr. Yegoyan, the organization plans to submit the
project to the approval of 8 large production companies. As to
consumers, they will be informed of producer’s willingness to take
back products for further repossession and utilization. "That will
be the first step in the sphere," Head of Consumers Rights Union said.
A round table on "Transparency and Liability in the Sphere of
Food Certification and Checkups" has been held in Yerevan with
the participation of Agriculture and Health Ministry officials,
certification agency representatives etc.