Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (Rwanda FDA) has embarked on a campaign to foster awareness among stakeholders engaged in food business operations for them to adequately comply with food safety standards.

A two-day workshop for stakeholders in the food sector intended to support the achievement of that goal took place in Kigali on February 3 and 4, 2022.

It was convened by the authority in collaboration with Land O’Lakes Venture 37, through an East African regional project funded by USDA called Trade of Agriculture Safely and Efficiently in East Africa (TRASE) Project as well as Private Sector Federation (PSF).  

The move follows the withdrawal of a banana-based alcoholic drink called ‘Umuneza’ from the Rwandan market on December 30, 2021, after it was realized that the drink was causing harmful effects – including blindness and death – to its consumers. It contained very high concentration of methanol – a toxic alcoholic substance.  

Rwanda FDA said that a recent enforcement activity conducted in August 2021, revealed that many food businesses operators are willing to comply with its food safety standards, but they still have limited understanding of the requirements.

Similarly, the Authority said that in the course of enforcement of the standards, its inspectors learned that a number of food business operators do not understand the mandatory requirements to register their businesses before operation and importing or exporting food products or equipment used in food production. 

The training is aimed to help address such issues. Its objective was to provide knowledge on Rwanda FDA’s role, Functions, Regulations, and Guidelines related to food safety standards required by Rwanda FDA. 

Dr. Emile Bienvenu, Director General, Rwanda FDA said that there are many agro-processing factories in Rwanda, and that many had expressed interest that the Authority help them meet the food quality and safety standards. 

"We wanted factories to better understand what it takes to meet standards for premises as well as food quality and safety standards,” Bienvenu said, observing that there should be no laxity in food safety legislation enforcement.

Rwanda FDA Director General Emile Bienvenu delivering remarks during the workshop intended to increase knowledge on regulations and guidelines related to food safety standards on February 3, 2022 in Kigali. / Courtesy

Some of the factory owners said that Rwf200,000 charged on each of the components such as the annual premises licensing, product registration, and license for product advertisement in the media,  is exorbitantly high.

"It is reasonable that we should comply with the food safety requirements so that we make competitive products at both local and international market, but such fees are high especially for start-ups or small businesses. They should be lowered to facilitate us,” said Marie Chantal Nyirakamineza, Managing Director of Rutsiro Honey Ltd.

However, Alex Gisagara, Head of Food and Drugs Inspection and Safety Monitoring Department at Rwanda FDA said that the fee that the Authority charges on premises licensing and product testing (different parameters), covers only 20 percent of the total cost, which implies that the Government subsidises the cost of the service.

"It is cost-effective for the processor to test their product and take it to market assured that it meets standards. Otherwise, the product might be intercepted and removed from the market as the producer incurs huge losses,” he said. 

Martha Byanyima, Chief of Party of the TRASE Project said that food safety is a very important and significant field, pointing out that "it impacts on our exports, on our tourism and on the competitiveness of our businesses.”

She said that there is a need to be effective, and to harmonise food safety system tools in order to make the cost of regulation affordable to businesses. 

"We shouldn’t allow issues to do with food safety to be an encumbrance to businesses,” she said. 

"We will continue to work with you, to make the best of this opportunity in this project, to sharpen our tools, to increase our efficiency, and to bring a service to the businesses that will make them competitive,” she observed. 

The countrywide mapping exercise conducted by Rwanda FDA from 2019 to May 2020 revealed that there were 813 agro-processing factories in the country. Of these, 514 have applied for premises licensing, while 155 have so far got the license.

The aforementioned campaign is expected to increase the turn-up of applications for premises licensing, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), importation and exportation both in numbers and quality.