Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The Food Safety and Modern Regulation Meeting was held at the TOBB Union Center. Attending the meeting were TOBB Board Vice President Faik Yavuz, TOBB Board Member Mustafa Yardımcı, TOBB Turkey Food Industry Council President Necdet Buzbaş, Food and Agriculture Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Nihat Pakdil and Food and Control Director Prof. Dr. İrfan Erol.

- Supervision must be diligently conducted

Pointing out that the Food and Agriculture Ministry has achieved regulation cohesiveness and that the ministry still has many important duties, Faik Yavuz went on, “Firstly, the sector must be doing business and producing goods in accordance with the regulations. The ministry must supervise this diligently as the food business is like no other. All countries treat this matter with special consideration. And so it should be. Even if only a couple of firms violate regulations, if they try to market goods in violation of regulations to EU or third countries, your record as a country is marred. Even if you as a company produce goods of the highest quality, once your country’s record has been affected by this the whole sector becomes obstructed. That is why auto-control as well as supervision in this situation is of the utmost importance. We must also be ready to do our part in this situation.”

- Food and beverage industry and the agriculture sector are inseparable

Stating that the food and beverage industry and the agriculture sector are inseparable, Yavuz drew attention to the need for agricultural goods to be at a certain standard to ensure the high quality of industrial food production. TOBB Board Vice President Yavuz emphasized the importance of laboratories able to analyze agricultural and livestock goods. Stating that, as TOBB and the exchange community, they have invested greatly to this field, Yavuz said, “Our country is among the largest economies of the world. We are 12th in the world in terms of arable land. We are the world’s 17th largest economy. In terms of agricultural economy we are one of the 10 largest economies in the world. Agricultural haul, 23 billion Dollars in 2002, has increased to 65 billion Dollars in 2011. This was achieved while chemically polluting the soil less and achieving greater efficiency from our fields. This means we have the capacity for both more and higher quality goods. Not just for our expansive domestic market, the food imports of the Middle East and North African countries have exceeded 70 billion Dollars.”

- TOBB Food Council President Necdet Buzbaş

TOBB Food Council President Necdet Buzbaş stated that the goal of the meeting is to share with the public the EU standards. Stating that the increase in urbanization has likewise caused an increase in food trade, Buzbaş said that in order for the food sector to develop healthily, there must be food safety. Necdet Buzbaş said, “Food safety is a basic human right and an indicator of the development level of a country.”

- Food and Agriculture Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Nihat Pakdil

Food and Agriculture Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Nihat Pakdil stated that food, considered globally, is a threat to world peace. Stating very clearly that Turkey is a food exporting country, said that GAP and similar projects are required in order to maintain production.

After the speeches Food and Control General Director Prof. Dr. İrfan Erol made a presentation on the subject.