Citizens Have Right to Expect Government to Guarantee Food Safety
SDHR Werner Wnendt will attend the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding later today at the Joint Institutions Building in Sarajevo . The MoU is being signed by MOFTER and the US NGO, Partners for Development. It will help set in place an improved system of animal inspection at BiH border posts.
Ambassador Wnendt will point out that: QUOTE: “Food safety is a basic right. Citizens in any society are entitled to expect that their government has the will and the capacity to ensure that the integrity of the food chain is properly regulated and rigorously maintained. But until now the authorities in BiH have been unable to guarantee food safety. This is a significant – I believe we may be correct in labelling it a scandalous – failure.” END QUOTE.
The good news is that this failure is now being addressed – not before time. Today’s memorandum can be viewed as a building block in the creation of an adequate food safety regime in BiH. This will benefit every man woman and child living in this country.
It should also be seen in the context of the reform of the BiH customs service, a core element in BiH’s European integration process.