DEVELOPMENT Solutions Ltd. (DS) provides research, strategic planning, and project management services including event implementation, in the arena of sustainable development for governments, the public sector, international organisations and multinational corporations. This work includes the organisation and implementation of training and TA for public and private sector operators in the international trade arena. In addition, DS has extensive experience in ensuring strong network and stakeholder relations management, especially where projects require an understanding of the operating protocols necessary when cooperating with officials and public sector bodies from developing countries. The work of DS constantly raises awareness of European Commission trade and external relations policies. It also helps to support the message of sustainable development as a key pillar of Europe’s strategic relationships with external partners.

Since 2003, DS has implemented a considerable number of EC-funded trade related technical assistance (TRTA) projects. As a result, DS has built up a bank of expertise and a team experienced in the procedures and requirements of project management on EC TRTA projects. We ensure that TA design is based on a thorough beneficiary needs assessment and training formats, which are relevant to the local context. Beneficiary needs assessment in developing countries is carried out by DS through both desk research and stakeholder consultation (questionnaires and direct face-to-face interviews). DS is experienced in the full project cycle of project management, including technical and financial reporting formats. This experience has been applied to the design and delivery of TA programmes, workshops, high-level conferences and seminars within a variety of sectors, which have included the participation of industry, civil society, government officials, and experts.

DS also specialises in designing and implementing promotional and visibility campaigns, and the targeted capacity building of stakeholders on substantive issues from policy development to codes of conduct for compliance strategies. Familiarity with various forms of media access has enabled DS to provide stakeholders the desired amount of publicity for their project.

DIANOVA Ltd – DTU (Technical University of Denmark) was founded in 2008 as a limited company and is owned by the Technical University of Denmark. DIANOVA implements all commercial assignments on behalf of the DTU National Food Institute and the DTU National Veterinary Institute. Using experts from the DTU Institutes and the Danish Food Administration, DIANOVA offers consultancy and advisory services, risk assessment and courses covering the “Farm to Fork” principle, besides diagnostic examinations, laboratory analyses and distribution of vaccines and sera. The DTU Institutes are responsible for the Danish emergency preparedness and advice to authorities regarding food safety, toxicological risk assessments in environmental exposure, human nutrition and dietary diseases, veterinary epidemiology, diagnostics and infectious diseases in animals.

The DTU Institutes are the EU Community Reference Laboratory (CRL) regarding surveillance and control of Antimicrobial Resistance in Food borne Pathogens, Fish Diseases (OIE-laboratory), Pesticides in Cereals and Feeding stuffs, EFSA Collaborating Centre for Surveillance of Zoonoses, WHO Collaborating Centre for Food Contaminants Monitoring (GEMS Food) and Antimicrobial Resistance in Food borne Pathogens. Since 1992 DTU VET has been the National Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza in Denmark. The Institutes are National Reference Laboratories in Food analyses, Residues of Veterinary Drugs, Chemical contaminants in Food products, GMO, Hormone disturbing substances, Algal toxins, Microbiological and Viral contamination of bivalvular shellfish, Zoonoses, Serological analyses, Infectious diseases and Exotic viruses in animals.

DTU experts participate in international cooperation, such as WHO, CODEX, OIE, EFSA, EU, FAO, IDF, CEN and ISO. DIANOVA and its Institutes have organised workshops and courses, among others on Zoonoses and Microbiological Criteria within the Better Training for Safer Food programme in 2007-08, WHO Global Salmonella Surveillance (several annual courses all over the world), WHO GEMS workshops on chemical food safety in new EU member or candidate countries and EU-Twinning projects preparing EU candidates for membership or reforming food legislation in 3 countries.