Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Food safety

Professionals from the Caribbean are certified as instructors in food safety preventive controls

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

A total of 33 food safety professionals from Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago were certified by the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA). The training was organized by the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, the U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

In Trinidad and Tobago, 17 professionals already have FSPCA certification, while 16 professionals have received training in Jamaica. The courses were taught by FSPCA instructors Matthew Botos and Marcos Sánchez.

San José, October 18, 2016 (IICA). As lead instructors, the newly certified professionals will be able to train local exporters, civil servants and representatives of the private sector, who will then be qualified to implement preventive controls based on the standardized FSPCA curriculum, which is recognized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The idea is to meet the requirements laid down in the Rule on Preventive Controls for Human Food established under the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

In Trinidad and Tobago, 17 professionals already have FSPCA certification, while 16 professionals have received training in Jamaica. The courses were taught by FSPCA instructors Matthew Botos and Marcos Sánchez.

Gregg Rawlins, IICA Coordinator for the Caribbean Region, said that this had been a very special occasion for the Caribbean region. He stressed that the partnership between FAS-USDA, USAID and IICA had been very productive, and expressed the hope that they would continue to work together in the future.

The newly certified professionals will be able to train local exporters, civil servants and representatives of the private sector.

“There have been many questions about this issue, and this joint effort gives us an opportunity to have a staff of certified instructors at the local level, so as to minimize the impact of the new regulations and enable export firms to continue operating unhindered,” said Robert Ahern, Principal Specialist in the Agricultural Health and Food Safety Program of IICA.

“The certified professionals now have more in-depth knowledge of the FSMA rules on preventive controls, so they will be able to apply implementation and training strategies in their own countries, with support from FAS and IICA,” said Ingrid Borrero, FAS Coordinator for the project.

IICA, along with its partners and with support from the FDA, has been training producers in Latin America and the Caribbean on the proposed rules and the final FSMA rules since 2014. To date, around 1400 individuals have been trained in this area, which is relevant to the export of agricultural products to the United States.

 

For more information, please contact ana.cordero@iica.int

Share

Related news​

Santa Fé, Darién, Panamá

September 4, 2025

Coordination between IICA and Panamanian and U.S. government authorities bolsters the fight against New World screwworm in Central America and Mexico

As part of the efforts to curb the spread of the New World screwworm (NWS), a current health threat in Central America and Mexico, the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA) of Panama, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Panama-United States Commission for the Eradication and Prevention of Screwworm (COPEG) organized a meeting with livestock farmers in the city of Santa Fé de Darién to strengthen health surveillance and better protect local livestock production.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

El Director General del IICA, Manuel Otero, reafirmó en la inauguración de Biohélice 2025 el compromiso del Instituto con la bioeconomía como eje estratégico para transformar el agro y revitalizar los territorios rurales. En el acto lo acompañaron la Directora General de CINDE, Marianela Urgellés; el Rector de la UNA, Jorge Herrera; y el presidente de CRBiomed, Álvaro Peralta.

San Jose, Costa Rica

September 3, 2025

Specialists and partners at a meeting spearheaded by IICA view the bioeconomy as essential in positioning Costa Rica and the Americas as leaders in sustainability and production transformation

The bioeconomy specialists were participating in Biohélice 2025, an event organized by Costa Rica’s Universidad Nacional, the CRBiomed association and IICA, which brought together more than 130 participants with an interest in innovation and bioeconomy.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Alagoas, Brasil

September 1, 2025

Eliane Faria de Souza, a fisherwoman from Northeastern Brazil combining old traditions with innovative ideas to protect the environment, is named an IICA Leader of Rurality of the Americas

Eliane works with other women in the region to transform polluting waste substances into organic fertilizer.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins