Conference on foodstuffs' quality held in Baku

Conference was attended by Heydar Babayev, Economic Development Minister, Ismat Abbasov, Agriculture Minister, Ramiz Hasanov, chairman of State Agency for Standardization, Metrology and Patent, Ziyad Samadzade, chairman of Parliament economic and political standing commission as well as managers of some production enterprises.
Economic Development Minister Mr. Babayev said low-quality and harmful foodstuffs are still be sold at markets.

"Enterprises have to produce foodstuffs meeting international standards and being able to be exported. Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) should be completely applied to the food industry, equipments should be improved and products should be certificated," he said. He also said that high-quality products should be made and exported to Europe.

Deputy EDM Niyazi Safarov spoke on the part the State plays in settlement of problems with food safety hazards.

He said these problems should be solved in order to ensure Azerbaijan's access to the WTO.

Ministry's Antimonopoly Department acting director Samir Dadashov made a report on the current situation in the quality of foodstuffs in the consumer market.

He said they monitored and imposed penalty of AZN 19000 on some 208 enterprises and warned 12 enterprises to improve standards.

/APA/