Structure And Functions Of SFDA And Ministry Of Agriculture In Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA)

Discuss about the Structure and Functions of SFDA and Ministry of Agriculture.

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicine Authority (APVMA) regulates the production, import and export of agricultural (pesticides, herbicides, insecticides) and veterinary (medicines, antibiotics) chemical products in Australia. To use an agvet (agricultural or veterinary) chemical product in Australia the same has to be registered with the regulatory body of the government ("APVMA basics" 2016). The aim of this essay is to identify the Saudi Arabian equivalent of APVMA and discuss the structure and function of the governing bodies. The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) and The Ministry of Agriculture are of utmost relevance in this regard. The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) is currently responsible for the regulation of both human and animal drugs and medicines in Saudi Arabia (SFDA 2016). The ministry of Agriculture partly regulates pesticides and veterinary medicines and services. This essay therefore aims to analyze the structure and functions of SFDA and ministry of agriculture, its role and effectiveness in achieving its objectives.

The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) is an independent body corporate which was established in the year 2003 under the resolution of the council of ministers No. one (1), dated 7/1/1424 H (SFDA, 2016). SFDA’s core objective and function is to undertake regulation and management of  both food and drugs for both animal and human consumption. According to Alsager et., al (2015), previously, the responsibilities of registering pharmaceutical bodies, regulating and managing drugs were being undertaken by the Ministry of Health (MoH), in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, the ministry was charged with the responsibility of distribution and sale of drugs and medicines after being approved by the American Food Drug Association (FDA) (SFDA, 2016).

SFDA is structured according to the rules and regulations governing state bodies in Saudi Arabia. Its structure of governance is that, it is headed by the Chef Executive Officer (Hashan et al., 2015). As stipulated in the structure shown below, SFDA  reports to the executive president.

Fig 1: Structure of SFDA

The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), is mandated with a couple of other responsibilities and functions which include ensuring the availability and safety of drugs and pesticides before use or consumption by both humans and animals (Jadi 2016); to ensure the safety of chemicals, biological products and pesticides, to undertake monitoring and close observation of chemicals, pesticides and contaminants to access their suitability for consumption by both animals and humans (Jadi 2016);  creating awareness to the general public on the safety of both drugs and pesticides in Saudi Arabia; undertaking risk assessment of both locally available and imported drugs and pesticides in Saudi Arabia (Jadi 2016) and finally formulating rules and regulations governing the import and packaging of drugs and pesticides in Saudi Arabia (Jadi 2016).

Ministry of Agriculture

Because of the presence of different agencies responsible with regulations and management of chemicals in Saudi Arabia, there has been absence of effective rules and regulations controlling pesticide. SFDA has a duty and mandate to control chemicals used by both humans and animals, consequently making it ineffective in achieving its mandate. According to Hashan et al., (2015), the queuing system has been poor  in terms of service delivery, taking around 340 working days before clearance  in the year 2011 to around 372 working days in the year 2013 (Ibrahim 2010). Saudi Arabia government should establish a different body that deals specifically with chemicals and veterinary medicine, other than the present body in operation that combines both drugs for human consumption with veterinary medicine meant for animals. So ideally, SFDA hasn’t been able to effectively deliver on its mandate due to its inability to meet deadlines and comprehensively manage both human and animal chemicals (Ibrahim 2010).

The ministry of Agriculture was introduced in the times where there was a necessity of the Saudi government to manage its agricultural activities. Therefore the ministry of Agriculture is as old as the Saudi Arabia government itself (Ibrahim 2010). The King appoints the minister in charge of Agriculture to oversee all functions related to the ministry. Ideally, the ministry of Agriculture was called the ministry of water, but was later dissolved and remained ministry of water, environment and Agriculture. However, its functions of managing veterinary medicine were amended later due to necessity to achieve high productivity (Ibrahim 2010).

The ministry of Agriculture is headed by the Agriculture Minister who is normally appointed by the King to serve according to the guidance of the constitution. The council of ministers are appointed by the king and are to serve for a stipulated period of time. However, research institutions found within the ministry structure are the ones mandated with the responsibility of accessing the risk associated with usability of pesticides and other veterinary medicines (Ibrahim 2010). For instance, under the ministry, there are food control laboratories and other research institutions who undertake risk assessment for pesticides and other chemicals and advice the ministry accordingly.

Fig 2: Structure of Ministry of Agriculture

The ministry of Agriculture in Saudi Arabia, being part of the government, is tasked with quite a number of responsibilities relating to the regulation of agricultural products and implementation of policies that foster food security and regulation of veterinary medicine (Ibrahim 2010). The ministry of Agriculture is part of the government and is bound by the constitution governing the land. In Saudi Arabia, the system of governance of ministries is in line with the ruling government, which is tasked with the responsibility of aligning the management of the ministry. The ministry of Agriculture in Saudi Arabia has a role and function of implementing government plans besides undertaking programs meant to safeguard Agriculture and both human and animal health in the Arab kingdom (Elhadj 2006). Therefore, in order to foster food security and to offer protection to both plants, animal and human health, the ministry of Agriculture has been mandated to control and manage licenses for fertilizer, pesticides and other veterinary drugs and vaccines (Elhadj 2006). In Saudi Arabia, therefore, the ministry of Agriculture has a part to play in regulation and management of pesticides and veterinary medicine ad vaccines (Hassan et al. 2013).

Regulatory bodies in Saudi Arabia

The ministry of Agriculture, besides formulating and implementing policies meant to cab food insecurity in Saudi Arabia, is also tasked with a number of other responsibilities which include importation of licenses for various goods ranging from fertilizers, pesticides, biological substance to veterinary medicines (Hassan et al. 2013), monitoring and control of chemicals and other vaccines (however, the ministry of Agriculture approves the sale of vaccines and chemicals subject to the approval of the ministry of health.), the management of animal resources, management of fisheries and control of locust. In order to effectively manage animal resources and control locusts, the ministry needs to use chemicals and pesticides that have been approved by the ministry of health (AVMA 2013). It also institute forums that are meant to create awareness to the members of the public regarding the use of pesticides and how to identify genuine pesticides and chemicals circulating in the market (Ibrahim 2010). It also assessess the risk exposure of both locally available and imported drugs in Saudi Arabia.

The ministry of Agriculture has a sole purpose of implementing economic policies meant to safeguard the country’s food security (Kajenthira et al. 2015). The ministry of Agriculture in Saudi Arabia has different divisions within it, with each division working towards the achievement of the ministries objectives. Therefore, because of the various sub-divisions found within the ministry, the ministry has not been very successful in control and management of pesticides in Saudi Arabia. This is because its core mandates it to implement economic policies meant to contain food insecurity in the kingdom ("Ministry of Agriculture - SAMIRAD (Saudi Arabia Market Information Resource)" 2016). The ministry of Agriculture in Saudi Arabia has many functions, making the role of controlling pesticides a subsidiary role.

Both SFDA and the ministry of Agriculture reports directly to the council of ministers who are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that ministries work according to the provisions of the constitution governing the kingdom (Ibrahim 2010).

Regulatory bodies vary from government to government, with variations too in terms of formation, functions, mandates and reporting. SFDA of Saudi Arabia and AVPMA of Australia both have different functions and different levels of effectiveness. Similarly, their formations and functional structures do differ. Saudi Arabia kingdom doesn’t have a clear statutory body that controls pesticides and veterinary medicine because of the presence of varied agencies and government bodies (Ibrahim 2010). In order therefore to effectively manage the control and management of pesticides and veterinary medicine, the Saudi Arabia kingdom should establish a body that solely deals with the control and regular management of pesticides and veterinary medicine. In conclusion therefore, though SFDA and the ministry of Agriculture have tried to control pesticides and veterinary services, they have not been effective as it should have been if a different body was solely mandated to undertake the task (Ibrahim 2010).

References

Alsager, S., Hashan, H and Walker, S 2015, ‘The Saudi food and drug authority: Shaping the regulatory environment in the gulf region’, Pharmaceutical Medicine, 29(2), pp. 93–103.

American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) 2013, AVMA guidelines for the euthanasia of animals: 2013 edition, Schaumburg, IL: American Veterinary Medical Association. Retrieved from https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Documents/euthanasia.pdf

APVMA basics. (2016). Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority. Retrieved 21 September 2016, from https://apvma.gov.au/node/15866

Elhadj, E 2006, Experiments in achieving water and food self-sufficiency in the Middle East: The consequences of contrasting endowments, ideologies, and investment policies in Saudi Arabia and Syria, United States, Dissertation.Com.

Hashan, H., Aljuffali, I., Patel, P and Walker, S 2015, ‘The Saudi Arabia food and drug authority: An evaluation of the registration process and good review practices in Saudi Arabia in comparison with Australia, Canada and Singapore’, Pharmaceutical Medicine, 30(1), pp. 37–47.

Hassan, A.A., Abdullah, S.M., Khardali, I.A., Shaikhain, G.A. and Oraiby, M 2013, ‘Evaluation of pesticides multiresidue contamination of khat leaves from Jazan region, Kingdome Saudi Arabia, using solid-phase extraction – gas chromatography/mass spectrometry’, Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry, 95(9), pp. 1477–1483.

Ibrahim, S 2010, Foods Safety System in Suadi Arabia (SA). Available at: https://www.rr-middleeast.oie.int/download/pdf/koweit%20pres%20countries/KSA_FoodSafety_OIETraining_Kuwait.pdf  (Accessed: 11 September 2016).

Jadi, A 2016, ‘Enhancing the monitoring system of SFDA in Saudi markets’, International Journal of Software Engineering & Applications, 7(4), pp. 31–45.

Kajenthira, Grindle, A., Siddiqi, A and Anadon, L.D 2015, ‘Food security amidst water scarcity: Insights on sustainable food production from Saudi Arabia’, Sustainable Production and Consumption, 2, pp. 67–78.

Ministry of Agriculture - SAMIRAD (Saudi Arabia Market Information Resource). (2016). Saudinf.com. Retrieved 21 September 2016, from https://www.saudinf.com/main/c6a.htm

SFDA 2016, About SFDA. Available at: https://www.sfda.gov.sa/en/about/Pages/overview.aspx (Accessed: 8 September 2016).