Huit laboratoires mobiles déployés  – Le Jeune Indépendant

The Ministry of Internal Trade and Market Regulation has just taken a new step in controlling the quality of products, mainly imported, and their compliance with safety standards. Eight new mobile laboratories, equipped with the most advanced technologies, will be deployed at the country’s busiest maritime border crossings.

This is what the Minister of Internal Trade and National Market Regulation, Amel Abdelatif, said yesterday during an information day dedicated to the presentation of these mobile laboratories, their mission but also their location. From the outset, the minister indicated that the provision of these new laboratories to the teams of her ministerial department is in line with the orientations of the President of the Republic. Guidelines aimed at strengthening analytical control of imported products, reducing analysis times through the use of modern equipment and advanced technologies, particularly for perishable products, as well as reducing processing times for economic operators’ files, according to the minister’s explanations.

It is also a question, she added, of reducing the length of stay of containers in ports, thus helping to reduce import costs, in addition to allowing rapid intervention at any point in the national territory. The minister, who highlighted the State’s efforts in consumer protection, particularly through the missions entrusted to the internal trade sector, indicated that these mobile laboratories were acquired from the Algerian Vehicle Manufacturing Company SAFAB-MB under the Ministry of National Defense. The latter are equipped with the most advanced technologies and have significant analytical capabilities.

This mainly involves, according to Ms Abdelatif, “the detection of pesticide residues, chemical substances and contaminants as well as mycotoxins”, “the analysis of cereals and plant materials, “the measurement of humidity levels in food products” as well as “other high precision analyses”.

Reinforced border control

The creation of mobile laboratories is not a simple technical approach, The creation of mobile laboratories is not a simple technical step but a strong commitment to consumer health, transparency and the protection of the national market, according to the minister, who issued a set of guidelines to ensure the success of this control system.

In this sense, she stressed the need to strengthen human and technical capacities, to harmonize analysis methods with those of fixed laboratories, to ensure close coordination between the different services concerned, as well as to accelerate the finalization of the procedure digitization project.

These equipped mobile laboratories will be deployed at the most active maritime border crossings at the national level, namely the ports of Algiers, Annaba, Skikda, Jijel, Béjaïa, Oran, Mostaganem and Ghazaouet, specified the minister, who did not fail to “welcome the major role of the fraud repression teams on the ground”.

In addition to “meticulous visual” checks, these teams carry out scientific analytical checks based on samples sent to sectoral laboratories, explained the first manager of the commerce sector, affirming that these analyzes constitute “the objective basis on which decisions relating to the conformity or non-compliance of products are based”, as well as “the legal measures aimed at protecting the consumer and the security of the market”.

An integrated information system

Ms. Abdelatif, who noted the strengthening of control capacities through the expansion of the network of laboratories, currently 42 and which will be increased to 58 by the end of 2026, indicated that the ministry is working to establish an integrated information system for laboratory management (LIMS – Laboratory Information Management System). This, she noted, “will enable precise management of data relating to equipment and human skills”, and will also facilitate “instant exchange of information”.

According to the minister, who reported the implementation of the national digitalization strategy, the project of the national digital map of laboratories “GEOLAB” stands out as one of the major achievements of the sector in recent years. “This smart platform is not just a digital application, but a comprehensive national database,” she said.

“GEOLAB embodies a new vision based on digitalization in order to raise the level of performance of the national analysis and control system, and to raise it to higher standards of efficiency and transparency, making this platform a national strategic asset,” added the minister.