30/06/2010

The Executive Director of the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition brings to a close the VI edition of the Master’s programme in Food safety which took place at the Madrid headquarters of the Official Veterinarian Association.

It is organised by the Official Veterinarian Association of Madrid (ICOVM) in collaboration with the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN), the Madrid Regional Department of Health, the General Council of Spanish Official Veterinarian Associations (CGVE) and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Universidad Complutense, Madrid.

Those taking part in the closing ceremony were: Ana Mª Troncoso, Executive Director of AESAN; Juan José Badiola, President of CGVE; Fidel Illana, Vice-Director General of the Department for Quality and Control of the Madrid Regional Department of Health; Joaquín Goyache, Dean of the UCM Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Felipe Vilas, President of ICOVM.

First to speak was Felipe Vilas, President of the Official Veterinarian Association of Madrid and Director of the Master’s Programme in Food Safety (Máster en Seguridad Alimentaria – MSA), who thanked all those present, along with institutions represented on the committee as well as those companies who have contributed to the programme, whose participation, according to Vilas, represents a step forward in the Madrid business community’s commitment to food safety. He went on to praise the efforts of the students who had studied on the VI edition of the MSA who, following 700 hours of theoretical and practical teaching, had received comprehensive training which would allow them, on entering the labour market, to resolve the problems currently faced by food companies.

Joaquín Goyache then stressed the enormous success of this Master’s programme, as evidenced by being in its sixth edition, with the seventh already being prepared, and he congratulated students for having chosen it, since in his opinion, the training offered is excellent, and since, in his own words “during times of crisis such as today, it is more important than ever to have good professionals”.

Representing the Department for Health, Fidel Illana began by congratulating students and expressed his delight at well-trained professionals entering the sector, since Madrid is home to over 1,600 food and drink companies who need to guarantee the quality of products consumed by the 6,300,000 people living in the region.

Juan José Badiola pointed to the vital importance of post-graduate study, and praised the initiative of the Official Veterinarian Association of Madrid for running this programme. According to Badiola, “postgraduate training is what gives university graduates the “security” to enter the workforce with a solid and well-orientated training”.

He also highlighted the fundamental role played by AESAN in guaranteeing food safety for ever more demanding consumers.

The ceremony was brought to a close by Ana Mª Troncoso, Director of AESAN, who praised the multidisciplinary nature of the MSA, saying that this programme offers everything that professionals need in terms of training, responding as it does to the demands of industry and the authorities.

She highlighted data provided by the CIAA (Confederation of Food and Agriculture Industries) showing the importance of the European food and drink industry, with a turnover of almost 965,000 million euros. It buys 70% of its supplies from EU agricultural production and exports products to the value of 58,000 million euros. Furthermore, it gives employment to nearly 4.4 million people across the EU. Troncoso added that “these data give us some idea of the huge scale and importance of this sector, in which many of you will be working, and in which we must continue to strive for improvement”.

She talked of the importance of building strategic alliances between public and private organisations and with groups which bring together professional associations as in this case, with the aim boosting their incorporation into the world of work.

To the students who had completed this VI edition of the Master’s programme, she recommended that they continued with their training, since the field of food safety is “very open and ever-changing, with continuous legislative modifications and the rapid transfer of scientific knowledge”.

Following the speeches, the Secretary of ICOVM proceeded to present the corresponding diplomas to students, and the ceremony was followed by dinner and drinks on the terrace of the Official Veterinarian Association of Madrid.

Awards were also presented to various organisations in recognition of their collaboration, such as the one presented to AESAN, which Ana Troncoso accepted from the President of ICOVM, Felipe Vilas.

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