About US

The Food Safety and Quality Authority of The Gambia (FSQA) is established by an Act of
Parliament called The Food Safety and Quality Act, 2011 and it became operational in 2013. 
The FSQA is the sole National Competent Authority with powers of delegation mandated to
officially control the safety and quality of food and animal feed whether locally produced,
imported or destined for export.

The Authority has a culture of recruiting competent persons with expertise in disciplines such
as Food Science and Engineering, Food Safety and Quality Management, Biology,
Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Chemistry, Toxicology, Public Health, Law, etc. and
ensure continuous capacity building of the competent persons. The Authority has four (3)
Technical Directorates under which the competent staff work and they include: Food Control
Directorate, Scientific Affairs Directorate, Regulatory Affairs Directorate and Admin &
Finance Directorate. Plans are underway to reform and rebrand the institution with new
structures for improved growth and effectiveness.

Vision
To ensure an integrated and coherent approach by ensuring that all relevant food safety
hazards are taken into account and that resources are allocated to controls according to risks
of food safety hazards impacting negatively on consumer health, trade and commerce.

Mission
To strengthen compliance to standards by Food Business Operators to ensure the availability
of safe and quality food for all.

Mandates: the mandates of FSQA are numerous and they are:

• Formulation of secondary regulations
• Registration and Licensing of establishments
• Developing and enforcing secondary legislations (regulations)
• Compliance Inspection of Food Business Operators/Establishment (border control, local markets, all food establishments, export and imports)
• Sampling and analysis of food products for compliance verification
• Prosecution of non-compliant food business etc.

OBJECTIVES: the overall objective of FSQA is to ensure that the consumer has access to good quality, safe and nutritious food and food products, whether the food is locally produced, imported or exported:

Objectives of FSQA

• To establish that the foods produced and or imported are handled and produced in the most hygienic manner
• To identify foreseeable incidents of food poisoning or injury as a consequence of consuming food or food products
• To ensure that the correct information about the product is conveyed to the consumer
• To ensure compliance with the law (FSQA Act 2011)

Organogram: The FSQA is governed by a Board of Directors and headed by a Director General with four different Directorates, namely:

Directorate of Scientific Affairs: This Directorate, headed by a Director is responsible for the following:

1. Scientific research
2. Collection of food samples, sampling and analysis

• Data Generation, compilation and analyzing

1. Food testing
2. Laboratory Assessment
3. Residue Monitoring

• Risk Profiling, Risk Assessment
• Training

1. Risk Communication
2. Development of Guidelines for Food Business Operators
3. Sampling and analysis of food products for compliance verification

Directorate of Food Control: This Directorate is the ‘’nerve center’’ of the FSQA and also Headed by the DG, it has the following roles and responsibilities:

1. Inspection of all food business premises in the Gambia throughout the food value chain such as: production, processing, handling, marketing, distribution and selling to ensure compliance with the FSQA act and accompanying regulations.
2. Certification of consignments for export and issuing of export certificates

• Inspection of imported foods to ensure that they are in compliance with international and National regulations

Monitoring health and hygiene conditions including that of food handlers and the handling practices, monitoring quality of water and beverages and the level of hygiene in all food premises

1. Technical advice on location and design of establishments
2. Assist Exporters with Enquiries from Competent Bodies of Exporting
3. Countries

• Risk assessment and Risk Management

Directorate of Regulatory Affairs: This Directorate, also headed by a Director is tasked with the overall responsibility of ensuring compliance with all regulations on Food Safety with the following specific roles:

1. Licensing and approval of premises for Food Businesses
2. Approving and or Licensing the operation of production and processing sites

• Designing and running training courses on best practices and legislation

1. Initiating prosecution for non-compliance
2. Developing and signing MOUs with other relevant authorities to ensure consistency
3.  

Directorate of Admin, Finance and Human Resources: This Directorate is responsible for the day-to-day running of the FSQA and also has the following specific roles and responsibilities:

1. Recruitment of New staff
2. Payment of salaries on time

• Procurement

1. Staff movement (transfers, postings etc)
2. Staff welfare
3. Maintaining the Agency’s properties

• Training (Induction)