A South African government aims to speed up the creation of a food control agency that would protect local agricultural processing and consumer safety, website Businessday.co.za reported.

Department of Trade and Industry Chief Director Stephen Hanival told the website the agency would help food processing businesses access international markets.

"We acknowledge that most of these producers are operating in a distorted world market and this food control agency will promote the recapture of domestic markets by our own high-quality producing business and address increasing food safety requirements for export markets," he was quoted as saying.

The story said the local agricultural industry needed to be safeguarded from 'unfair competition', combined with intiatives to find new markets in countries like Argentina, Chile, Malaysia, Thailand, India, China and Indonesia, the story reported.

Source: www.freshfruitportal.com