ANGOLA – Angola’s Minister of Industry and Commerce has exhorted the National Authority for Economic Inspection and Food Safety (ANIESA) inspectors to act with rigor, ethics, and professionalism in order to guarantee the quality of the products consumed by Angolans.
The Minister, Victor Fernandes, made the call at the conclusion of a visit to inspect the ANIESA facilities, which are housed in the CLOD administrative building in Viana.
He referred to the need for economic diversification as a national challenge and added that the many institutions competing to ensure quality must be ready because the inspection authority is essential to this process.
“It should be noted that the operation has no obstacles, the team is small and dynamic, so the concern we take is to increase the staff, because there are few, although very motivated and available for the work that lies ahead,” he stressed.
He clarified that ANIESA is split into central and municipal portions, with the latter having less immediate need.
He did, however, point out that at the central level, where there are roughly 110 employees, research is currently being conducted to determine the precise amount for demand, and that work should then be done in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance.
Since there are more businesses in the nation, according to Fernandes, the inspection activities will expand in scope.
In light of this, the Minister gave the professionals the go-ahead to keep up the good work and keep ANIESA resolute and powerful.
ANIESA was established in 2020 as the sole entity for carrying out inspection activities in the country.
It is a Public Institute that resulted from the unification of the sectorial inspection services for Industry, Commerce, Tourism, Environment, Transport, Health, Agriculture, and Fisheries.
ANIESA’s objective is to ensure greater administrative efficiency and effectiveness, as well as to eliminate the duplicity of the inspection intervention, through the adoption of a new paradigm of action that focuses on reducing procedures and improving the business environment.
The body is coordinated by the President of the Republic, assisted by the Vice President.
The nation falls well short of international standards in its ability to manage and cope with export requirements for plant and animal health as well as food safety, says Africa RISE.
This undermines both domestic and foreign trade and jeopardizes the government’s strategy for diversifying the economy to spur growth.
The EU Delegation and the Government of Angola requested technical support from Africa RISE to design a project to strengthen national capacities and ensure compliance with food safety and technical standards and increase and diversify trade.
Africa RISE is a regional technical assistance facility that supports inclusive and sustainable growth, job creation, and decent work in Eastern Africa, Southern Africa, and the Indian Ocean region.
Once the four-year project is implemented, and sufficient compliance with sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreements is achieved, consumers should benefit from increased availability of safer and better quality products, and exporters will have access to new markets and higher sales to existing markets.
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