Previous Story
BEH undergoes food security training
For four days this week, the Bureau of Environmental Health will be offering limited services as its employees undergo training on ensuring the health and safety of food products distributed throughout the CNMI.
The four-day training, from July 16 to 19, 2019, is a partnership between the Commonwealth Health Care Corp.’s BEH and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s West Coast Imports Division.
The training will discuss federal requirements for the import, export, manufacturing, and labeling of food and drink products sold in the CNMI, as well as environmental inspections and preventive controls for food.
The training will include agency representatives from the CNMI Consumer Protection Task Force, with the hope that this will strengthen tie-ups for future collaborations, increasing awareness about agency programs, and sharing current approaches and best practices for compliance with BEH regulations.
The FDA officers are also scheduled to meet with seaport tenants—Commonwealth Port Authority police and personnel, regulatory personnel, and cargo and cruise shipping agents—for a short presentation and question-and-answer session.
This training is funded by the Association of Food & Drug Officials Retail Program Standards, with the overarching goal of strengthening BEH capacity to continue to meet the requirements for standardization as an FDA food safety inspection officer.
During this training BEH services will be limited to entertaining customer calls, accepting requests for inspections, and responding to complaints that are classified as imminent health and safety hazards. (PR)
