Agricultural Products Safety: Challenges of Governance in an Intersectoral Health Issue

Food safety has an essential role on people’s health. Agricultural products of any kind constitute a big part of food; and have a special place in Iranian food culture. Therefore, considering safety in these products is of great importance. Providing healthy food is a government responsibility emphasized in our country legislation. Currently, there are various dispersed acts and regulations approved for controlling factors affecting healthy agriculture, like water, soil, fertilizers, and pesticides. Also, different organizations have been determined responsible for enforcing legislations. The situation induces many challenges regarding inter-sectoral cooperation and accountability of responsible organizations. It is necessary to adopt a holistic approach to more clarify and merge related regulations; and integrate responsibilities in one accountable organization. So that, agricultural products’ safety would be more guaranteed.