Short-Term Consultancy: Training on The Application of Codex vTPA Guidelines and Options to Use vTPA Programmes in National Food Control Systems

Background: Land O’Lakes Venture37 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to helping communities around the world build economies by strengthening local agriculture, helping agribusinesses create jobs and linking farmers to markets. Since 1981, it has implemented over 315 integrated dairy, livestock and crops development programs in nearly 80 countries — creating lasting impact by linking farmers, businesses, and the public and private sector in local and global contexts. Land O’Lakes Venture37’s long-standing affiliation with Land O’Lakes, Inc. sets it apart. Land O’Lakes, Inc. is one of America’s largest farmer-owned cooperatives. It supports Land O’Lakes Venture37 project implementation with nearly 100 years of expertise in dairy, animal nutrition, crop inputs and agricultural insights and technologies. This gives Land O’Lakes Venture37 development projects a unique global view of agriculture, food and the power of well-functioning market systems. Land O’Lakes, Inc. supports these efforts as part of its enterprise purpose of Feeding Human Progress at home and around the world.

Project Summary: The Piloting the Use of Third-Party Assurance Programme in East Africa to Improve Food Safety Outcomes for Public Health and Trade is a three-year activity beginning November 2022 and ending October 2025 funded by the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) that will pilot the use of a Voluntary Third-Party Assurance (vTPA) Programme in Rwanda for the horticulture sector and Uganda for fisheries to improve food safety, based on the Codex Principles and Guidelines for the Assessment and Use of Voluntary Third-Party Assurance Programmes (CXG-93-2021). The pilot will be implemented in close cooperation with the governments of Rwanda and Uganda and will complement two other ongoing pilot projects, generating additional data and evidence on the use of the vTPA approach in developing countries, and promoting dialogue and learning across West Africa and Central America. The project will also assess and make use of data and information from vTPA Programmes to support ongoing food safety reform processes in Rwanda and Uganda, including the move towards a more risk-based inspection system that will further strengthen dialogue and cooperation with small-scale producers and food business operators, as part of efforts to modernize and strengthen food safety management. 

The pilot will aim to achieve the following outcomes:

• Outcome 1: Increased awareness of regulatory authorities on how to assess and use data / information generated by vTPA programme in Rwanda and Uganda.
• Outcome 2: Improved food safety compliance of food business operators (FBOs) in the horticulture and fisheries value chains based on the use of vTPA programme.
• Outcome 3: Increased awareness of food safety regulators on the application of vTPA approaches in other countries.

Purpose and Objective of the Consultancy: 

In order to work towards achieving Outcome 1 and Outcome 3 above, the “Piloting the Use of Third-Party Assurance (TPA) Programme in East Africa” project has already mapped the vTPA programmes being used in the target value chains in Rwanda and Uganda. In addition, the project has highlighted some of the potential vTPAs that maybe promoted for adoption in the horticulture and aquaculture value chains in Rwanda and Uganda. However, it is still not very clear to the government regulators how these vTPA programmes may be used as part of the national food control systems. The project has therefore planned to undertake a number of awareness creation and knowledge transfer activities for the government regulators in the horticulture and aquaculture (fishery) value chains in Rwanda and Uganda respectively. 

These awareness creation activities will improve the knowledge of government regulators with reference to use of data from vTPA programs in the national food control systems, and the various approaches available. 

The project is seeking a Consultant to conduct a training on the CODEX vTPA guidelines and use of vTPA programmes as part of the national food control systems, for the government regulators in the horticulture and aquaculture fisheries value chains in Rwanda and Uganda respectively. The specific objectives of this consultancy is to undertake a 3-day training on the application of Codex vTPA Guidelines, an overview of different regulatory approaches and options to use vTPA programmes as part of the national food control systems.

Consultant Tasks: 

Under this scope of work, the Consultant will complete the following tasks:

1. Review of Documents: Undertake a review of relevant literature on vTPA programs and food safety particularly the project report on mapping the existence and use of vTPA programs in Rwanda and Uganda, and the project report on the scanning of the regulatory environment for food safety control in Rwanda and Uganda. These should provide the consultancy with an insight on the baseline awareness of the regulators with regards to vTPA use in national food control systems.
2. Preparation of Training materials: Undertake to prepare all the required training materials including presentations and assessments on the application of CODEX vTPA Guidelines (CXG-93/2021), introduction to food safety management systems schemes, overview of different regulatory approaches, options to use vTPA programmes as part of the national food control systems.
3. Training of Regulators: Undertake physical training sessions in Rwanda and Uganda. The training sessions should be planned for a minimum of 3 contact days in each country, targeting a maximum of 40 food safety regulators per country. The trainings should be conducted in a mode that facilitates adult learning since by default all the food safety regulators are presumed adults who have been out of the formal learning systems for several years.
4. Reporting: Prepare a report of the training workshops for submission to the project coordinator with all presentations, attendance registers, evaluation record sheets and certificates attached.

Consultant Deliverables:

Under this scope of work, the Consultant is expected to complete the following deliverables:

• A detailed training plan with clear concept, detailed agenda, and timelines.
• Training materials including power point presentations and assessment exercise.
• Certificates for the course trainees
• Training report also detailing any recommended follow on activities and /or training topics

Requested Qualifications:

The consultant for this assignment will meet the following criteria:

• Advanced in Agriculture, Veterinary Medicine, Food Safety, Development Studies, Economics or Law or in the related fields.
• At least 10 years of relevant professional experience in food safety.
• Proven experience of at least 5 years in working with international technical cooperation agencies or in SPS related technical assistance projects. Work experience in Africa preferred.
• Proven working experience in Codex activities and good knowledge of the work of GFSI on vTPAs.
• Good understanding of the CODEX “Principles and Guidelines for The Assessment and use of Voluntary Third-Party Assurance Programs”, CXG 93-2021
• Proven knowledge of international, risk-based food safety requirements and of SPS related matters.
• Knowledge of the WTO SPS Committee and the International Standards Setting Bodies, including Codex, OIE, and the IPPC.

Reporting: The Consultant will report to the STDF Project Coordinator.

Period of Performance: The selected individual will be awarded an independent consultancy contract with a level of effort 10 days for the provision of the regulators training and related deliverables. The consultant will propose an appropriate timeline such that the final report is completed by July 31st, 2023.The final detailed schedule and timeline will be agreed upon with the chosen consultant.

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