The meeting, which was held at the Authority’s Head Office in Shiashie, formed part of FDA’s performance monitoring indica­tors and targets instituted with the support of the State Inter­est and Governance Authority (SIGA).

The meeting created a platform for the Authority to engage with stakeholders, solicit stakeholder feedback on the Authority’s per­formance and suggest areas for improvement, as well as promote awareness and understanding of the Authority’s role in protecting public health and safety.

Evaluating its performance, the FDA presented the highlights of last year’s performance, including product registration and facility licencing against its performance in 2021.

For instance, the Au­thority recorded a 24 per cent increase in the number of facilities inspected from 7,913 in 2021 to 9,829 in 2022.

In the area of import and export controls, FDA’s opera­tions increased by a significant margin of 36 per cent. Other presentations made highlighted the number of street food vendors licensed with per­mits, FDA’s market surveillance activities and product quality testing done in 2022.

As part of the FDA’s mandate to advise the Health Minister on measures for the protection of consumer wellbeing, the Au­thority proposed some relevant amendments to parts 6, 7 and 8 of the Public Health Act 851 and advocated for a stand-alone Act that would guide its operations.

Despite the significant achieve­ments in 2022, the operations of the Authority were met with many challenges. Some of the key challenges identified are inadequate vehicles and other logistics for inspections, ageing laboratory equipment and the ab­sence of a module for processing exports on the ICUMS, amongst others.

The Chief Executive Officer, Dr Delese Darko assured stake­holders that the Authority was putting in measures to improve its regulatory processes.

She called for improved con­ditions of service to help retain the highly trained staff of the Authority.

To help improve the financial state of the Authority, she asked that FDA should be allowed to retain all its internally generat­ed funds or at least the service charges.

Present at the meeting were members of the FDA Governing Board, and representatives from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance, Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate of the Ministry of Agriculture, GSA, Customs and the State In­terest and Governance Authority (SIGA) as well as some trade organisations.