Doha: The electronic food safety system (Watheq), which is run by the Food Safety Department of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), is contributing greatly in providing an effective food safety system in the country, said an official.
“Watheq is one of the most important national projects within the Qatar Public Health Strategy, which was implemented for building an effective food monitoring system,” said Director of electronic food safety system (Watheq), Dr. Essam Saeed Abu Al Khair.
Speaking to Qatar TV recently, he said that the system is based on an integrated risk-based inspection service according to most relevant international standards and best practices in this regards.
“Under Qatar Public Health Strategy two parallel projects were implemented – obtaining international standards in food inspection ISO/IEC 17020 and setting up an electronic system and upgrading it for food monitoring,” said Abu Al Khair.
He said that the goals were achieved by setting up the system and obtaining the international standard about one year ago.
“Under the strategy a number of other projects were implemented to develop the food safety system such as training food handlers and issuance of about 15 food safety guides,” said Abu Al Khair.
The electronic system is a food control process, based on standard operating procedures subject to international accreditation controls (ISO 17020), through three electronically linked systems which are: the system of control of imported and exported food, the system of control of food in the local market, and the electronic management of food analysis laboratories.
The electronic food safety system Watheq has been linked with the customs clearance system (Al Nadib) to constitute an integrated platform that contains complete data on food and importers, to ensure efficient inspection of imported and exported food products at all ports in Qatar.
The Food Safety Department at the Ministry of Public Health plays an effective role in implementing the health policy in all food safety-related matters and carries out the powers entrusted to the Ministry of Public Health under Law No. 8 of 1990 regarding regulating the human food control.
The department conducts food control and inspection in places where food is being handled to ensure its safety and validity.
It also prohibits handling any food that does not meet the specifications and requirements in cooperation with competent authorities.
In addition, the Department responds to emergency cases related to food safety and validity in partnership with more than one entity, manages and operates laboratories to examine and analyse food samples.
In August last year, the Food Safety Department of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) obtained international accreditation from the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) in the field of inspection of imported and local foods and local establishments in accordance with the ISO/IEC 17020 system.
The international accreditation is a manifestation of the ministry’s compliance to the international standards and methods of inspection implemented by its Food Safety Department.
