The network's overall objective is to facilitate the emergence and maintenance of an internationally recognized infrastructure of food analysis laboratories capable of providing reliable analytical results regarding food origin, composition, nutritional characteristics, food microbiology, as well as analyses of pesticides, phytopharmaceutical substances, antibiotic residues (milk, meat, eggs, etc.), contaminants, additives, food contact materials, and genetically modified organisms.
The platform's specific objectives are to:
- Facilitate communication between network members on all topics likely to contribute to achieving the above overall objective;
- Facilitate the accreditation of network laboratories according to applicable international standards (ISO 17025:2017, ISO 17043:2023, etc.); Facilitate member laboratories' access to technical information (libraries of standards on analytical methods, quality management, etc.), equipment, and consumables (standards, reference materials, gases, solvents, etc.) by promoting group purchasing and services (maintenance, consulting, training, information, audits, certification, proficiency testing, inter-laboratory testing, etc.) enabling them to develop and maintain their analytical capabilities;
- Provide network member laboratories with any information likely to facilitate the development of reliable food analysis skills and capabilities and sampling methods;
- Facilitate information sharing to enable the implementation of alert mechanisms at the national and regional levels, as well as crisis management and communication actions, including the market withdrawal of non-compliant products;
- Facilitate cooperation and the sharing of skills and capabilities among network member laboratories; To encourage cooperation between network member laboratories and other laboratory networks and the international scientific community, and to facilitate members' participation in meetings of international (ISO, FAO, WHO) and regional (COMESA, SADC, ASEAN) institutions working to advance food safety control;
- To disseminate information to the public, businesses, consumers, and authorities on the network's news and achievements, its expertise and capabilities, service offerings, training opportunities, current and upcoming projects, partnership opportunities, talent searches, calls for tenders, and any information deemed useful by network members.