Ensuring pest free import and export commodities in Malaysia
A training workshop focusing on Plant Quarantine Inspection on Pest and Diseases for Import and Export Commodities was held in Malaysia.
This training workshop was organized by the International Trade Centre through the European Union funded ARISE Plus Malaysia project.
Experts from Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Animal Rights – Malta, Indonesia Agricultural Quarantine Agency, and CABI Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International conducted the training.
40 participants from the Department of Agriculture (DOA) attended the workshop. They learnt the importance of pest risk communication, understand factors influencing entry in a country, as well as the different tools they can use upon identifying pests and contribute to managing the risks to Malaysian biosecurity.
The participants experienced a practical session on sampling and inspecting techniques of pests and diseases in class. They inspected various types of flowers such as Chrysanthemum, Aquatic Plants and Orchids; as well as wheat, rice, corn, and propagation seeds including corn seeds and rice seeds.
As part of this training, the participants were split into two groups for a site visit. One group visited KLIA Quarantine Centre in Sepang where they export flowers to the EU. And the other group visited an export production house in Ampang.
The site visit enabled participants to examine real-life export products. They learnt how each facility inspected their goods for pests before exporting it to another country. The participants had the opportunity to witness and be a part of the inspection process.
"We plan to organize an internal workshop sharing session with all other staff within the same department to share what we learn in the workshop," said Ms. Najwa from state Department of Agriculture.
Participants also presented their findings as a group. As the first part of this workshop, Department of Agriculture headquarters, Sabah and Sarawak have plans to teach, implement, and practice the new methods for Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) and Pest Quarantine Inspection (PQI) learnt during this workshop.
About the project
The ARISE Plus Malaysia project supports inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the country through enhancing sustainable business and investment environments, improving product quality and competitiveness, as well as enhancing sustainable and internationally quality-compliant practices in the agri-food sector.
The three-year project is funded by the European Union and is a part of its national and regional ARISE Plus projects to support greater connectivity and economic integration in ASEAN. The project is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.
