At least eleven food and seed quality verification laboratories have been set up in Mozambique to "guarantee" that products reach the market without contaminants that endanger public health.

The information was released this Monday on the sidelines of the first National Quality Conference, organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, through the National Institute for Standardization and Quality (INOQ).

In parallel with this process of setting up laboratories, companies are being trained in handling products intended for the consumer market.

"We have around eleven laboratories operating throughout the country. It's a gradual process, we started by supporting one laboratory and gradually we got to eleven accredited laboratories," said Jaime Comiche, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) representative in Mozambique, and he assured that support would be made available for more laboratories to emerge.

According to the UNIDO representative, quoted by AIM, the process of setting up laboratories, which has been going on for more than ten years and was consolidated in 2015, is materialized through the Association of Laboratories of Mozambique, also created with the support of UNIDO.

"It should be noted that the development [of quality control laboratories] is a long-term activity and is not done with a project or a one-off activity," he explained.

The first National Quality Conference, which is being held under the slogan "Quality Culture: From Commitment to Implementation", has the main objective of identifying and discussing the challenges faced by organizations in matters relating to quality, as well as seeking collaborative solutions among stakeholders.