The current project deals with the organisation and implementation of training activities in non-EU countries in South and Central America and in the Caribbean under the “Better Training for Safer Food” initiative. The purpose of the training programme is to provide these countries with technical training and on-the-spot technical assistance, assisting them to improve and strengthen the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) framework, particularly as it applies to animal health and welfare, thereby to allow better production, processing and trade of safe food and healthy animals. In this way, the project contributes to the achievement of long term EU objectives of reducing and eradicating poverty through sustainable development and the integration of developing countries into the world economy.

The training programme includes six workshops and a series of sustained training and technical assistance missions (STMs), which will be carried out in selected countries within the specified region.

SUSTAINED TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE MISSIONS (STMS)
STMs represent an innovative tool, made available under the BTSF initiative, to provide technical assistance that is tailored to the needs of individual Member States.

Within the BTSF World – Lot 5 programme, STMs are aimed at supporting both the competent authorities as well as private stakeholders (such as farmers, producers, etc.) in selected third countries, including at local and national level, in particular with regard to providing hands-on training thereby developing a training pathway, an action plan, manuals and/or other documented control procedures to ensure effective farming/production practices, inspection and verification mechanisms in the fields covered by this programme.

The general objectives of STMs stand as follows:

To provide hands-on training by the expert(s), including laboratory training where appropriate, to both competent authorities as well as private sector through consecutive missions along a learning process;

A training pathway should be established for each third country and sector. Such trainings will consist of mentoring competent authorities/private stakeholders throughout a learning process but also of performing preparatory drafting of manuals to be implemented later at a national and/or regional level;

To support the countries’ competent authorities in the assistance in developing manuals and other documented control procedures to set up effective verification mechanisms for the fields to be covered by the contract.

The organisation of such missions will require the identification of a pool of ‘high level’ experienced experts (with minimum of 5 years of working professional experience in the concerned fields) from which one or more can be assigned to the tasks to be executed in the selected third countries.

The BTSF World – Lot 5 programme will include 10 STMs in 2 different countries during 2013-2015, the first of which is scheduled for June/July 2014 in Paraguay, for a total amount of 85 working days.

The workshops delivered within this lot will include the following elements:

detailed overview and explanation of EU SPS standards in the animal health and animal welfare domains, having regard to recent developments of EU legislation and international SPS standards;
emphasise the role of regional SPS bodies with the objective of promoting regional bodies supporting SPS cooperation ;
reference to the contribution to the implemention of SPS standards made by IT information systems, risk assessment and “regionalisation” mechanisms;
sessions directed to laboratory staff on state-of-the-art techniques for diagnostic testing, including time spent in relevant laboratories in the recipient country having sufficient capacity (facilities, equipment, reagents) to carry out testing;
promoting the successful adoption of STMs by recipient countries.

SUSTAINED COURSES, LOCATIONS AND ALLOCATION OF SEATS
The training sessions, organised in the form of workshops (including practical sessions, laboratory trainings and roundtable exchanges) will be carried out in different regions of South and Central America and will be exclusively addressed to non-EU countries that have a major interest in the above-mentioned issues in view of the important trade or potential they maintain.

Six training workshops are included in the programme, each for approximately 60 participants, of which the participation of 45 is supported by OPERA Consortium. 10-15 non-EU countries in South and Central America and the Caribbean will be invited to participate in each workshop.

PARTECIPANT SELECTION
Participants shall consist of a proportionate number of both competent authorities and private stakeholders involved in production and official control activities in a particular country (depending on the theme of the activity), selected through previously identified National Contact Points (NCP) of that particular states. If there is no national contact point established in particular country participants can be proposed via governmental office in close cooperation with the EU delegation in the region.

For each workshop, participants will be identified in consultation with the competent Authorities and EU Delegations in non-EU countries, from relevant government ministries, services and laboratories in charge of the implementation of SPS requirements and/or which carry out food controls and testing.