Food Quality Helps Ensure Mongolia’s Economic Future

For the first time in Mongolia, a comprehensive food safety and quality assurance program has been launched in response to private sector demands as a result of the issues of food-borne illness in food manufacturing and food safety management.

As global competitors put pressure on the Mongolian economy, public officials and economists are focusing on improving quality controls as a necessary building block for economic growth. The Food Safety Quality Assurance Program, a collaborative effort between USAID/Business Plus Initiative and the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health, was established to help Mongolian businesses learn how to achieve higher levels of quality in their products and services — the single largest issue identified by business leaders and public officials as hindering economic development.

Launched in 2011, the Food Safety Quality Assurance Program has trained more than 120 individuals in HAACP, the internationally recognized food safety standard. This training is the first phase in the project’s goal of establishing a Quality Management Center of Excellence that will continue to improve quality assurance practices so that local businesses such as food processing plants and restaurants can become more competitive.

In March 2012, about 50 public and private sector participants in Mongolia received certificates at the Quality Assurance Awards Ceremony for completing program requirements in a) Hygiene: Food Safety and Manufacturing, and/or b) Food Safety Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points management systems, a component of HAACP. The Chartered Institute for Environmental Health announced this achievement in its recent issue of the Environmental Health News Magazine.

The project will continue to train and certify local businesses in assuring food quality. This will not only mean greater competitiveness in the marketplace, but more importantly, will result in safer food products for Mongolian citizens.