His Excellency Rashed Mohamed Al Shariqi, Director General of Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA), inaugurated the first meeting of this year held for the Authority's employees to communicate with the leadership on all the latest projects and initiatives underway.
Speaking on the occasion, Al Shariqi called upon all staff to put their best efforts together to achieve the goals of the Authority. "Each one of you is an ambassador of the Authority before the general public. We have adopted the highest international standards in everything we do and we count on you to translate our goals into achievements," he said.
The directors of various divisions highlighted their main projects and initiatives. The Strategic Planning and Performance Management division shed light on the main strategic goals of the Authority and the way in which they are linked to the functioning of the various divisions and departments, besides explaining the highlights of performance indicators.
The staff were briefed on the annual surveys conducted to gather data on the satisfaction of the recipients of the Authority's various services inside and outside the organization. The survey covers employees, clients, partners and stake holders, suppliers and the general public. The results of the survey and their analysis will help the Authority better its services and performance in its areas of responsibility, it was pointed out. The presentation also explained the mystery shopper program which was used to measure the extent of the staff's professionalism and probity and commitment to work principles and performance quality. The surveys covered all branches of the Authority across the emirate.
The Policy and Regulation sector presented a synopsis of the various development and legislative measures taken by it. It included details of the best methods adopted in preparing legislations and the role of the sector in spreading the culture of excellence among the staff.
The director of the laboratories division presented the highlights of the division's various initiatives such as the tests for detecting melamine in children's milk products, parasitic and toxic endophytes in animal feeds and DNA analysis of food to detect GM foods and the mixing of meats. ADFCA laboratories are the only ones in the country capable of extracting DNA from food and conducting their analysis.

The Policy and Regulation sector also presented details of the legislations and laws in regard to food safety and agriculture, including the integrated policy document on food safety and agriculture. Also touched upon during the presentation were issues such as the project for risk-based analysis of imported foods and inspections at the local markets, besides the implementation of the Food Import Management Information System (FIMIS).