The Institut Pasteur du Cambodge (IPC) held on June 15^th a Letter of Intent signing ceremony with the The CAPFish-Capture: Post-harvest Fisheries Development Project (supported by European Union and United Nation Industrial Developement Organization) to strengthen its Laboratory of Environment and Food Safety (LEFS) testing capacity towards achieving the ISO 17025 accreditation and ensure the implementation of management and technical requirements.

Among the distinguished guest who attended the event were Mr Khov Koung (the Deputy Director-General of the Fisheries Administration), Mrs Camilla Lombard (the Head of Cooperation of the European Union Delegation to Cambodia), Mr Sok Narin (the Country Representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization),  as well as stakeholders of the agriculture and food processing industry.

The ISO 17025 accreditation is the recognition of the ability and competence of a laboratory to provide accurate testing and calibration results and to implement a proper quality management system.

Prof. André Spiegel the IPC Director,  said during the ceremony that for several years the laboratory is preparing for the accreditation.

“It seemed important to be able to offer users the services of an accredited laboratory, particularly for those who needed certification from an accredited laboratory to be able to export food products. This would allow us to achieve two objectives: the first, strengthen the quality of our process and analyses for a benefit in terms of public health, particularly in food safety, second, to bring our modest contribution to the economic development of Cambodia,” he said.