Australia Leads Efforts to Improve Regional Response to Food Safety Emergencies

In the third meeting of the FSCF since it was established, regulators and key international stakeholders reviewed progress on goals and restated their commitment to work together to strengthen food safety systems and progress towards a safer regional food supply chain.

5/19/2011 --- The outcomes of an international food safety incident workshop, convened by Australia under APEC, would lead to better food safety incident management across the Asia Pacific, Food Standards Australia New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Steve McCutcheon said.

Mr McCutcheon said 18 member economies had taken part in the workshop which would help APEC members develop and improve food safety incident management protocols and practices.

“One of the key outcomes of the workshop is the establishment of a Food Safety Incident Network amongst APEC member economies which will lead to a faster exchange of information and adoption of best practice approaches to help respond when food safety emergencies arise,” Mr McCutcheon said.

“Having better systems in place to manage incidents means the response to such events can be more efficient and effective, reducing negative effects on both trade and public health.”

The workshop was a key part of the program at APEC Food Safety Cooperation Forum (FSCF) meetings in Montana. Australia and China Co-Chair the Forum.

In the third meeting of the FSCF since it was established, regulators and key international stakeholders reviewed progress on goals and restated their commitment to work together to strengthen food safety systems and progress towards a safer regional food supply chain.

Mr McCutcheon said work undertaken by APEC members had raised the profile of food safety in the Asia Pacific region and resulted in improved communication and information sharing on food safety issues.

“This forum is a way for members to share information and increase knowledge on food safety with APEC member economies sitting at the table discussing food safety priority issues. Out of session communication now takes place regularly between members and websites have been established that provide a range of information.”

Mr McCutcheon said the FSCF and its Partnership Training Institute Network (PTIN) had also signed a memorandum of understanding with the World Bank with all parties agreeing to work cooperatively on food safety capacity building initiatives, in the APEC region.

“The main purpose of the MoU is to strengthen high-level support from the Bank for food safety issues and to provide a positive statement on the importance of food safety capacity building, at a regional and global level.”