A five-day course on food and drug quality inspection started on Monday, July 18, at the Rwanda National Police (RNP) General Headquarters in Kacyiru bringing together 30 participants from different institutions.

Trainees include police officers, investigators from RIB as well as those from Rwanda Food and Drug Authority (RFDA) and the Ministry of Health.

The course is facilitated by experts from the Health Protection Department of the Italian Carabinieri, as part of the existing cooperation with Rwanda National Police.

Carabinieri is Italy’s equivalent of national police.

While opening the course, the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) in charge of Administration and Personnel, Jeanne-Chantal Ujeneza, observed that foodstuff, drugs and medicines traded illegally are a serious threat to public health.

She added that foodstuff, drugs and medicines or other products, if produced, traded illegally or poorly stored, present a serious threat to public health since they are dangerous for human consumption. 

The training, she said, comes to support the Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority to achieve its mandate to protect the public health through regulation of human and veterinary medicines, vaccines and other biological products, processed foods, medicated cosmetics, medical devices, household chemical substances, tobacco and tobacco products.

"To effectively achieve its mission, Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority requires working hand-in-hand with other government institutions including law enforcement agencies such as RIB and Police among others, for regular monitoring and inspection of all these products circulating in the country to protect the citizens,” DIGP Ujeneza added.

The Deputy Police Chief thanked the Carabinieri for its continuous support in various areas of capacity development.

She urged participants to take advantage of the training to acquire more knowledge in food and drug quality inspection.

On his part, Col. Francesco Sessa, the Carabinieri Liaison Officer observed that the training was implemented in the framework of Cooperation between the RNP and the Italian Carabinieri.

"Here, we come from different backgrounds, with different legal systems, from different institutions, carrying out different functions. However, I believe that we share something in common, a desire to learn from one another and stay up-to-date on how we can accomplish our mandate for a safer society,” Col. Francesco said.

Rwandan police and Carabinieri signed a cooperation agreement in 2017 to partner in capacity development, including peace support operations, counter-terrorism, aviation security, public order management, VIP protection, cybercrime, traffic and road safety, environmental protection as well as acquisition of modern police equipment, among others.