Qatar’s Food Safety Laboratory is a new IAEA Collaborating Centre for Food Safety and Control

Qatar's Food Safety Laboratory has become a new IAEA Collaborating Centre on Food Safety and Control, signalling a strong commitment from Qatar's Ministry of Public Health and the IAEA to improve food safety systems in countries around the world, in response to increased international demand.

"With a high burden of food safety and need for a concerted effort, the demand for research and development and the application of their outcomes to building testing and surveillance capabilities in Member States is now higher than ever before" said Najat Mokhtar, Deputy Director General (DDG) and Head of the IAEA Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications.

"Research and scientific findings are required to inform good management decisions. We cannot do this work alone hence the Collaborating Centres which enhance the IAEA's ability to serve Member States. We need more and more Collaborating Centres, and I am glad that The State of Qatar has voluntarily stepped forward to join the scheme" added the IAEA DDG.

The designation of the new Collaborating Centre took place in May during the International Symposium on Food Safety and Control held at the IAEA's headquarters in Vienna, Austria.

With over six decades of success in advancing the use of nuclear and related techniques to improve food safety and control, the IAEA, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Agriculture, is uniquely positioned to support the development and advancement of food safety and control measures.

"We are pleased that following a request by the Assistant Minister of Public Health, the Secretariat undertook a mission to Qatar to conduct a gap analysis and determine suitability of the FSL as a collaborating centre" said Jassim Yaaqob Al-Hamadi, Resident Representative, Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the IAEA.

IAEA term says it should just be Qatar, though "the State of Qatar" is admitted.