UAE boosts focus on pet food, animal feed safety

The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) has established a new reporting portal to track animal health and food safety incidents.

Willeecole | Dreamstime.com
Willeecole | Dreamstime.com

The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) is addressing many issues related to pet food and animal feed across the country. This past July 2019 saw the launch of a new Bio-Security Early Notification System that aims to facilitate reporting on incidents related to animal health, pests, pet food safety and food contact. The portal is easy to use, requires basic location data and reports details and incident details for the various UAE municipalities to respond effectively.

The portal is relevant for use in reporting animal cruelty and the sale of unhygienic and expired foods, including pet food. It comes on the heels of crackdowns on pet stores in July 2019, with Abu Dhabi municipality’s efforts to ensure that pet distributors and owners are aware of their responsibilities to pets and public health. Fines of up to AED3,000 (US$816.7) will be imposed on anyone found violating the new law, which is an amendment to a 2007 federal law on animal welfare.

Focus on animal welfare, food safety

Issues related to animal welfare, pet food and animal feed were first raised in 2016, when federal and local authorities began drafting legislation to control ballooning demand, imports and exports for exotic pets, animal feed and pet food. In 2016, the first Dubai International Conference on Animal Feed/Pet Safety was held at the Birds & Pets Market in Al Warsan. The Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority participated in the two-day conference and has updated its various food safety regulations and standards alongside Dubai Municipality and MOCCAE.

The 13th Dubai International Food Safety Conference is upcoming in November 2019 and has played a large role in building food safety capacity in the UAE. Such activities are continuing to strengthen food safety requirements for pet foods and animal feed as well. The establishment of an Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority in 2019 is signal that to the pet food industry that private investments in the UAE are being held to a higher standard.

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