Ministry is working closely with co-agencies to protect the food industry from NCDs and consumers - Kamikamica

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Manoa Kamikamica says the ministry is working closely with other co-agencies including the Ministry of Health to ensure practical and proper measures are in place to protect the food industry from Non-Communicable Diseases and the consumers at large.

Kamikamica highlighted this when questioned by Assistant Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection, Sashi Kiran on what measures are in place to ensure that imported food items meet the required standards to avert the rising cases of non-communicable diseases in the country.

The Deputy Prime Minister says the Department of National Trade Measurement and Standards creates standards for goods and services that provide technical requirements such as making a product, managing a process, delivering a process or supplying materials.

He says the National Trade and Measurement Act of 1989 and its regulation on pre-package goods deals with labelling required on certain food items where importers and sellers of pre-package goods must ensure that the products are correctly labelled before arriving in the country.

Kamikamica further says the government could consider a fruit regulation system of its own subject to cabinet discussion that can be done to improve the overall framework in Fiji.