Food establishments can apply for “Equivalency” if they have an already established training dept. and have conducted in-house training for the last two years; in such case, the food establishment can apply for equivalence approval to be officially submitted to ADFCA at efst@adfca.ae , both one hard copy and one soft copy for review.
The following three stages for in-house training approval
Stage 1 Business Approval
The business officially submits one hard copy and one soft copy of the following:
- Letter of Interest to provide EFST training signed by the Authorized manager of the company.
- Copy of company Trade License and ADFCA Food Control Certificate.
- Company profile to include:
- Organizational chart /description of company identifying the Management of the training department.
- Number and type of operating food outlets/activities.
- Number of food handlers that will require EFST training.
4. Detailed Curriculum Vitae and completed Trainer Application & Registration Form for each proposed EFST in-house trainer.
Following a review of this documentation by the EFST team the company will be notified if they meet the minimum requirement, within 15 days.
Stage 2 Trainer approval
Following successful completion of documentation as outlined below the proposed EFST trainers can seek approval following the procedure outlined below. This process can be repeated if, and when, additional EFST trainers are proposed
Trainers that are to be involved in delivering the EFST Certificate must be approved by the EFST team and can only work for one training provider. The process of approval is outlined below.
Potential trainers must submit:
- A completed application form.
- Professional curriculum vitae.
- Copies of attested academic qualifications *(with transcripts or other evidence of food safety components studied).
- *Note: A process to ‘legalize’ Trainer’s qualifications so that they can be recognized internationally. Contact home Embassy for information.
- Copies of other vocational qualifications.
Trainers will be required to complete both food safety and train-the-trainer courses or prove equivalency of previous qualifications.
All trainers will be required to successfully complete the Advanced Food Safety Examination and Train-The-Trainer Assessment (see Table 1). No training sessions shall be conducted with the candidate until ADFCA issues the final approval.
Training providers should inform ADFCA if (1) they employ new trainers who were previously EFST approved or (2) and approved EFST Trainer leaves their employment.
Table 1 ADFCA requirements for EFST trainers
Advanced Food Safety Course |
5 day course |
Minimum Level 4 Food Safety Qualification. |
Advanced Food Safety Examination |
Written exam paper |
None. |
Train-The-Trainer Assessment |
Micro-teaching exercise |
None. |
Train-the-Trainer Course. |
5 day course |
Successful completion of the T-T-T Assessment. |
Stage 3: Training material approval
The final stage in the equivalency process is for the company to prepare and submit training materials to meet the requirements identified below. If Stag 1 & 2 are successfully completed, this will take a maximum of 30 days.
Successful approval for equivalency status will allow the training of employees to be conducted in the establishment (i.e. in-house). Training must follow the requirements outlined in EFST Protocol Section 6.6.
Training providers are required to produce training materials developed to match the detailed ADFCA EFST curriculum (see Annex: Curriculum) and meet other quality requirements as outlined below. The training material is subsequently reviewed and signed off by the EFST project team. The purpose of the review and sign off is to ensure the training material meets the content requirements of the training protocol, meets any branding standards as set out by the program, and meets all defined quality criteria.
ADFCA requirements for the EFST ‘training package’:
- A detailed 6 hour session plan with;
- timings
- content
- teaching methods
- materials
- Learning outcomes.
- method of evaluating learning outcomes.
2. At least one interactive group activity to last between 15-30 minutes for each of the 5 parts of the curriculum. Full details/examples of materials should be provided.
- Any PowerPoint presentations (a maximum of 30 slides in total).
4. The inclusion of all relevant images from the EFST Advisory Booklet.
5. Logos used on the presentations and handouts are restricted to the training provider and the approved ADFCA / EFST logo.
6. Revision material that should include relevant material from EFST Advisory Booklet. http://www.adfca.ae/Arabic/PolicyAndLegislations/Documents/EFST-en.pdf
Hard & soft copies of the five activities, power-points and session plans are required.
Training providers applying to conduct EFST in multiple languages must submit a full training pack for each approved language.