Terms of reference – International Food Safety & Quality (FSQ) Expert – Indonesia

Terms of reference – International Food Safety & Quality (FSQ) Expert – Indonesia 

Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation/ Trade Facilitation Office Canada

 

1.  Background

The Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation (the Alliance) is a public-private partnership for trade-led growth, supporting governments in developing and least-developed countries in implementing the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement. Alliance projects cut through red tape and end costly delays at borders by bringing together governments and businesses of all sizes as equal partners to deliver targeted trade reforms.

By emphasizing digitisation and delivering other best practices, Alliance projects enable businesses to trade more easily thanks to streamlined and more predictable processes. Governments save time and resources by modernising trade procedures while still safeguarding their borders. Ultimately, Alliance projects boost trade competitiveness and business conditions, which are key drivers of inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction.

The Alliance is led by the Center for International Private Enterprise, the International Chamber of Commerce, and the World Economic Forum, in cooperation with Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). It is funded by the governments of the United States, Canada, Germany, and Denmark.

Trade Facilitation Office Canada (TFO Canada) is a Canadian not-for-profit organization whose mission is to improve lives by creating sustainable trade partnerships for exporters from developing countries with Canadian and foreign buyers. TFO Canada assists Small and Medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and Trade Support Institutions (TSIs) from developing countries to access international markets through information, advice and contact services.

TFO Canada seeks an individual to serve as an International Food Safety & Quality (FSQ) Expert on a trade facilitation project based in Indonesia that TFO Canada is implementing on behalf of the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation (GATF). A detailed description for this project is in the enclosed Annex 1. The objective of the trade facilitation project is improving risk management in the import control and inspection system for fish and fishery products by the Fish Quarantine and Inspection Agency (FQIA) of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) of Indonesia. It is expected that the proposed project will reduce time and costs of importing fish products because of improved risk management of control systems and import inspections. It is also expected the project will improve effectiveness of control systems and import inspections by incorporating appropriate Food Safety & Quality (FSQ) and Bio Security/Fish Disease (BS/FD) measures.

The international Food Safety & Quality (FSQ) Expert will be responsible for FSQ related activities of all the components of the project (please see Annex 1 for description of the components). This will include, but will not be limited to:

1. Assessing the current import inspection and control system in Indonesia regarding FSQ of fish and fishery product, interpreting of results of the assessment and formulating necessary revisions of the guidelines/processes currently in place
2. Discussing and integrating of both FSQ and BS/FD elements (with inputs received from the BS/FD assessment team) in the overall assessment and resulting recommended revision of guidelines/processes
3. Drafting of an improved system and respective guidelines in close liaison and discussion with the Competent Authority (CA) in Indonesia and providing technical assistance to the CA for the approval of the improved system and guidelines/processes.
4. Developing procedure manual(s) (including guidance note on Sanitary and Phyto Sanitary-SPS-measures with inputs from the International BS/FD expert/team) in line with the improved import inspection and control system approved by the CA.
5. Developing a training plan and training material for building capacity of BKIPM/FQIA staff and an awareness raising plan and material for raising awareness of fish business operators, fish importers and exporters and other private sector stakeholders in line with the revised/improved guidelines and procedure Manual.
6. Facilitating the training and awareness raising activities in Indonesia
7. Facilitating and participating in study & audit visits with the FQIA team of major exporting countries to validate their import control and inspection systems.
8. Providing insights and FSQ perspectives for the M&E experts to assist in the project’s monitoring, evaluation, and feedback component.

2. Essential Qualifications

• A Post-graduate degree with specialization relevant to the tasks/job description mentioned in the previous section
• At least 10 years’ experience in Food Safety and Quality (FSQ) assurance of fish and fishery products for international organizations/projects
• Proven track record with significant experience (preferably Indonesia) in the work of the Competent Authority (CA) for fish and fishery products with similar past work experience
• Strong, broad-based technical background and demonstrated understanding of the related Legislation, Standards and Operating requirements pertaining to markets access as well as being versed with the main market access requirements
• Experience in and/or knowledge of Fish Business Operations and the CA requirements and obligations.
• Experience of conducting FSQ related assessments of fish and fishery products of Export /Import Control Competent Authorities (CA), including for ex. Technical Implementation Units (TIUs) and labs, preferably in Asia
• Experience in facilitating regulatory guideline improvements/changes in discussion with CAs (preferably in Indonesia)
• Experience in developing procedure manuals, documents and guidance materials for CAs and private sector/industry for their use.
• Experience in designing, planning and facilitating training and study visits (to USA/Canada, Europe, Australia/New Zealand) for the CA and awareness raising workshops for fish importers, fish business operators and exporters (preferably in Indonesia)
• Experience in designing and facilitating audit visits of competent authorities for the purpose of validating their risk management status
• Excellent speaking, writing and presentation skills in English
• Good computer applications (including digital communication applications)
• Willingness and ability to travel to and work in Indonesia

3. Level of effort

TFO Canada’s compensation for the international FSQ expert will be based on 7.5 hours per day with a maximum of 175 days as shown in the table below:

Component	Level of Effort (LoE)
Component 1 (March – September 2022)	59 days
Component 2 (October 2022 – May 2023)	99 days
Component 3 (June – July 2023)	5 days
Component 4 (August – September 2023)	12 days

TFO Canada is inviting interested and qualified individuals to submit a cover letter and CV. Cover letter should include up to 3 specific examples of experience with programs/projects relevant to this position.

Deadline: Applications with the subject line “GATF Indonesia: International FOOD SAFETY & QUALITY (FSQ) expert” should be submitted to tfocrc@tfocanada.ca no later than 11/02/2022.

Any questions/clarifications required in order to complete the application can be sent via e-mail before the deadline to mahmud.hossain@tfocanada.ca.

 

 

ANNEX 1

Project description

The trade facilitation project “Improving risk management of import control and inspection system of Fish Quarantine and Inspection Agency (FQIA) in Indonesia,” addresses the current lack of appropriate risk management in Indonesia’s import control and inspection system that does not fully consider appropriate FSQ and BS/FD measures and does not consider pre-border risk management (based on country risk and exporter performance).

The main stakeholders of the proposed project are FQIA, fish business associations (Indonesian Canned Fish Entrepreneurs Association-APIKI, AP5I- Indonesian Fishery Producers Processing and Marketing Association), Nestle Indonesia and Indonesian importers of mackerel, sardine and tuna. APIKI and AP5I are the private sector champions.

Project plan

The project has four components, which are described below:

1. Assessment of Current Status and Issuance of Revised Guidelines (January – September 2022)
Planned activities include:

• Establish baseline of key indicators
• Conduct field visits to market, labs, business operators, Technical Implementation Units (TIUs) and Border Inspection

Posts (BIPs)

• Review existing legislation, guidelines and Standard Operational procedures (SOPs)
• Review and assess existing risk management and inspection provisions/components pre-border, at border and post-border/market
• Review gender situation in fish and fishery sector
• Develop detailed risk management guidelines and monitoring systems for pre-border, at-border and post-border/market
• Provide technical assistance (technical workshops and meetings) to seek feedback and consent from FQIA regarding proposed revised risk management system

The main outputs are:

• Project initiation report
• Assessment report of existing monitoring and control system covering FSQ and BS/FD
• Assessment report of existing gender situation in fish and fishery sector
• Revised guidelines and SOPs for risk management covering Food Safety & Quality (FSQ) and Biosecurity/Fish Disease (BS/FD) risks

2. Capacity Building and Awareness Raising (October 2022 – May 2023)
Planned activities include:

• Develop training plan and manuals for improved monitoring system covering both food safety and quality, biosecurity, Risk Management/HACCP
• Develop guidance manual on Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary measures (SPS)
• Provide training courses covering BSQ, BS and HACCP to FQIA staff and relevant private sector representatives
• Conduct study visits to countries with best practices in monitoring and control system

The main outputs are:

• Procedure manual and training material on FSQ, BS/FD, risk management/HACCP
• Guidance document on SPS measures
• Training, awareness raising and study visit activity reports

3. Validation of Control System in 02 Major Exporting Countries (June – July 2023)
Planned activities include:

• Provide technical assistance to FQIA in preparation for audit visits
• Conduct audit visit to Country 1 on its fishery products export risk monitoring/control system
• Conduct audit visit to Country 2 on its fishery products export risk monitoring/control system
• Establish risk profiling of import products from the audited 2 major exporting countries

The main outputs are:

• Audit visit reports

4. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Feedback (August – September 2023)
Planned activities include:

• Assess implementation status of revised risk management system by monitoring and evaluating FQIA work processes and interviewing fish importers and fish business operators and compare with baseline established in Component 1
• Provide recommendations for more efficient and sustainable operationalization of the revised risk management system
  The main outputs are:
• Assessment report of FQIA’s implementation status of revised risk management system with recommendations for any changes needed to improve its operationalization.