APEC members to cooperate on food safety

Representatives from 18 APEC member economies attended the APEC Food Safety Cooperation Forum Singapore 2009 held last month, together with key international organisations with an interest in food safety.

The Forum was co-chaired by Australia (Food Standards Australia New Zealand [FSANZ]) and China (the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China [AQSIQ]).

‘Food safety is a shared responsibility and is no longer an issue just for individual countries. Food is also a vital component of trade and a considerable contributor to APEC member economies,” says Food Standards Australia New Zealand’s CEO, Steve McCutcheon.

“It is for these reasons that the APEC member economies established the Food Safety Cooperation Forum which issued the Hunter Valley Statement at its first meeting in Australia in 2007.”

“A great deal has been achieved since the establishment of the Forum - over 440 people from 19 APEC member economies have participated in 24 different capacity building activities held in five cities across the region.”

“APEC economies will focus their attention on strengthening coordination of food safety capacity building activities, utilizing a broad range of government, industry and academic stakeholders through the new Partnership Training Institute Network initiative developed by the US.”

“The capacity building activities will include strengthening capacity in assessing food safety capacity building needs, food safety risk analysis, developing food laws, standards and enforcement systems, microbiological risk analysis and assessment, food safety risk communication, and chemical safety risk assessment, among others.”

“APEC economies also agreed that they will build on already established networks and processes, particularly to strengthen ability to share information in the event of food safety emergencies.”