Food Contact Material Inspection Systems Consultant

Transforming the Assessment and Inspection of Food Businesses (TAIB) Project

Cairo, Egypt

Background: Land O’Lakes International Development is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit helping communities around the world build economies by strengthening agriculture from farm-to-fork, helping businesses grow, and linking farmers to markets. Since our start in 1981, we have been leveraging nearly 100 years of expertise in dairy, animal nutrition, crop inputs and agricultural insights from our close affiliate, Land O’Lakes, Inc., a farmer-owned agribusiness committed to fulfilling its purpose of feeding human progress.

Our team is made up of nearly 350 employees who are committed to market-led approaches, and passionate about colaborating locally to create lasting inclusive economic growth. By unlocking the potential of agriculture for the last 36 years, the lives of more than 3 million people have been transformed through nearly 300 programs in more than 80 countries.

Project Description:  The Transforming the Assessment and Inspection of Food Businesses in Egypt (TAIB) project is a five-year $8.5M project funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that will expand domestic and international trade of Egyptian food products by supporting the establishment and scale-out of a new government entity, the National Food Safety Authority (NFSA). TAIB will provide technical and financial support to NFSA that is responsive to the evolving needs of the nascent regulatory authority. Assistance will be aimed at harmonizing Egyptian food law and regulations and international standards, implementing robust inspection systems, managing outbreaks, conducting science-based risk assessments, monitoring Egyptian food safety systems, and reducing food-borne illnesses.

Purpose and Objectives of the Assignment: NFSA issued the technical regulation for food contact materials including recycled materials in October 2022, with the purpose of setting the requirements for business operators to produce safe and legal food contact material products, and to guide the industry about the licensing, suspension and de-licensing rules.

TAIB will support a consultant to review the current related inspection checklist and update the system according to the new regulation in order to ensure that both the inspectors and industry are fully aware of the FCM inspection system and to provide guidance on the industry to comply with the regulation. The consultant will provide training on the inspection system to food contact materials establishments as well as the inspectors from the newly established inspection unit. The consultant will develop a guideline for food contact materials to provide the industry with explanatory guidance for each clause of the regulation of food contact materials and will support food contact materials facilities to comply with NFSA’s requirements and pass inspection.

Consultant Tasks: Under this scope of work, the consultant is expected to do the following:

• Review and evaluate the current checklist and provide a gap assessment report to clarify the proposed areas of improvement.
• Develop an updated checklist and compliance criteria based on the approved assessment
• Develop guidance on the best practices to produce in conformance with the legislation of food contact materials in Egypt.
• Discuss the drafted guidance with TAIB, NFSA, and Chamber of Food Industries (CFI)
• Finalize the final version of the guidance based on the feedback of TAIB, NFSA, and CFI. 
• Develop training materials on the developed inspection checklist and guidance
• Provide training sessions for the inspectors and the CFI technical staff and members including theoretical classes and on-site training.
• Develop training material on the different food contact materials technologies and the associated hazards per the types of materials and the used technologies
• Provide a periodical report to the TAIB Technical director.

Deliverables: Under this scope of work, the consultant is expected to complete the following deliverables:

Required Skills and Qualifications: The ideal candidate will possess the following skills and qualifications:

• Degree in Food Contact Materials, or another related field of study.
• A minimum of 10 years’ experience working in different Food contact materials, Food contact material manufacturing, and food contact material safety requirement.
• Demonstrated knowledge of decree 17/2022 and the relevant Egyptian regulations.
• Proven experience in writing guidelines, checklists, and similar materials.
• Previous experience with food contact materials and international standards such as BRCGS Packaging Materials, ISO/TS 22002-4 Food Packaging manufacturing , and FSSC 22000 .
• Demonstrated knowledge of current food contact materials manufacture and risk-based inspection principles.
• Prior experience in developing training materials and providing training courses.  

      Reporting: The position reports to the Technical Director.

Period of Performance and Level of Effort: The period of performance for the consultancy is through October 31, 2023. The level of effort for the consultancy is not to exceed 40 working days.

Submission of CVs: Interested consultants should submit their updated CVs and proposed daily rate no later than May 25, 2023.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. No phone calls will be accepted.

Land O’Lakes Venture37 will never ask you for personable identifiable information, and we will never request money or payment during the recruitment or employment process. Please submit any questions or concerns to: Venture37generalinquiries@landolakes.com.

Land O’Lakes Venture37 is an equal opportunity employer and an organization striving to help global communities thrive through agriculture. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or veteran status, among other factors. Our culture values a diversity of voices. So bring us your unique experiences, your workstyle, and your dreams — they’ll only make us stronger.