PEC/PREP-5  |
| PEC/PREP-5 |
A Preparatory Meeting for the Pan-European Conference on Food Safety and Quality was held at FAO Headquarters in Rome on 4 May 2001 in co-operation with WHO. All FAO members of the European Region were invited to attend this meeting. Members of WHO who are not members of FAO were invited by WHO as observers. The meeting was presided over by Mr Hartwig de Haen, Assistant Director-General Economic and Social Department of FAO. The meeting was co-chaired by Mr Leo Hagedoorn, Head of the delegation of the Netherlands, since this Conference had been proposed by the Minister of Agriculture of the Netherlands. A list of participants and observers of this meeting is attached as Annex 1.
In welcoming the participants, Mr de Haen noted the high level of attendance and the substantial presence as an indication of the importance that the countries and organizations of the European Region attach to the organization of this Conference. The Chair thanked the Hungarian delegation for the official offer of the Hungarian Government to host the Conference. In his welcoming address the Chair also stressed the importance of close co-operation with WHO in the preparation and implementation of this Conference.
The Agenda was adopted with an amendment to the title of the Intermezzo to read: Presentation of the results of the Conference "Food Chain 2001 - safe, sustainable, ethical", held in Uppsala, Sweden, 14-16 March 2001.
On the basis of the report of the Steering Committee meeting, held on 13 November in Rome, clarification was requested regarding what sort of co-operation there would be between FAO and WHO in the Pan-European Conference and the FAO/WHO Global Forum for Food Safety Regulators. The Secretariat stated that the Global Forum has been initiated as a fully joint FAO/WHO activity with the two Organizations as equal partners. In relation to the Pan-European Conference, which had been conceived as an FAO activity, the co-operation with WHO had been very close since the initial preparations.
It was noted that full participation of member countries of WHO, that are not members of FAO could influence the contents of the Conference agenda. It could also lead to additional costs. However, during discussions all participants commenting expressed support of the concept of the Pan-European Conference as a joint FAO/WHO activity and the representative of WHO stated that WHO was prepared to participate jointly. The meeting requested the Secretariat to propose to the Director-General that the Conference should be a joint FAO/WHO-activity.
The report was adopted as amended.
The meeting agreed that the venue of the Conference would be the Central Food Institute in Budapest. The Hungarian Government had proposed holding the Conference from 25 to 28 February 2002. The Secretariat mentioned that a meeting of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Certification and Inspection was scheduled to take place in Australia during that same week which might compete with the Conference. However, the decision remained to hold the Conference from 25-28 February 2002, as these were the dates the venue was available.
The Chair informed the meeting that the intention of the Director-General of FAO was that food safety and quality conferences of this kind should also be organized for other regions. Some participants stated that many conferences on the subject of food safety are held or planned and therefore undesired overlapping of discussions in different fora should be avoided. It was pointed out that the objectives of the Global Forum were different and would not overlap with the Conference. The range and substantive contents of the two activities would also be different. It was agreed that both activities should co-operate as much as possible and exchange relevant information.
It was recognized that the main challenge of the Conference is to find a credible response to food safety and quality problems in the region, to produce food which is as safe as possible and to make food safety and quality transparent to the public and to have knowledge and experience on food safety issues between all countries of the Region. The Conference is an important means to identify, to discuss and to find solutions regarding problems that are of specific significance to the region as a whole. Therefore the Conference and the authors of papers should concentrate on identification and discussion of the regional problems and on useful and practical solutions to specific regional food safety and quality issues. The Conference should give attention to risk sources in the entire food chain. Subjects of general or global relevance and not specifically significant for the European situation should be left to other discussion platforms, like the Global Forum. Relevant output of the Global Forum however could be used as input for the Conference. It was therefore proposed to include a summary of the Proceedings of the first meeting of the Global Forum on the Agenda of the Conference.
It was mentioned that existing European food safety and quality control systems, such as the Rapid Alert System of the European Community, could be extended to other members of the region. The harmonization of government strategies in the Region was suggested as a means of making this possible.
A proposed list of beneficial contributions to the whole European region was generally considered as an ambitious but useful guideline for further development of papers. The list was endorsed with some amendments:
An alternative to these points was mentioned, comprising three areas of attention:
It was agreed that the result of the Conference should consist of a clear report with solid and specific recommendations and concrete proposals for follow-up measures in order to tackle issues in the European region or problems significant for the European situation as identified and acknowledged during the Conference. These recommendations should be addressed to governments, NGOs, FAO and WHO. Therefore it was advised to submit the report of the Pan European Conference to the 23rd FAO Regional Conference for Europe in Cyprus for consideration and to seek political commitment for the implementation and financing of proposed follow-up activities. The Conference report should likewise be submitted to the 52nd WHO Regional Committee for Europe in September 2002.
The meeting agreed that the Conference should not only be attended by food control experts, but also by high policy advisors and high level experts in the field of food safety and quality.
Some delegations supported the idea of a limited ministerial segment during the Pan-European Conference, in order to raise the level of the Conference and to find political commitment for the results and recommendations. Most delegations however supported the proposal that a ministerial segment at the 23rd FAO Regional Conference for Europe from 27 to 31 May 2002 would be the most appropriate platform to report on the results of the Pan-European Conference, noting that the initiative of the Conference had been taken during the last Regional Conference for Europe in Porto in 2000. Some participants stated that a ministerial segment at the Pan-European Conference could jeopardize ministerial participation at the 23rd FAO Regional Conference for Europe. It was concluded that a ministerial segment should not be invited to the Pan-European Conference.
It was agreed to recommend to the Director-General of FAO to make arrangements for the ministerial segment at the 23rd FAO Regional Conference for Europe to consider the results of the Pan-European Conference and decide on follow-up action as appropriate.
The delegate of the Russian Federation expressed his preference to be a participant of the Conference rather than an observer and met with support for this request. In the event that the Conference became a joint FAO/WHO activity, all European members of FAO and WHO would be invited as participants. The WHO representative declared that in that case WHO's co-financing of the Conference would be a realistic possibility.
Regarding the criteria for the invitation of NGOs, the meeting agreed that international (including European regional) NGOs from the entire food chain should be invited, including organizations of farmers, industry, consumers and environmentalists. It was suggested that competent international NGOs and organizations which were not accredited to FAO should also be invited. National NGOs could be invited by their governments, if they wished. It was agreed that members and organizations from other regions should not be invited to the Conference.
On the basis of a proposal from the Host country it was agreed to limit the size of member delegations to a maximum of 4 delegates. It was also approved that invited international NGOs and organizations should be present with not more than 2 delegates.
The Conference will be conducted in English, French and Spanish. It was agreed that if the Conference became a joint FAO/WHO activity, Russian should be added as an official language of the Conference. WHO declared that in that case they could consider assisting in covering the Russian translation and interpretation related to the Conference.
It was concluded that planning another preparatory meeting was not necessary at this time. If the Secretariat considered it opportune to arrange an extra meeting prior to the Conference, this could be arranged with the assistance of the Permanent Representatives in Rome. It was agreed to set up an interactive website on the internet and to issue newsletters to keep the members informed on a regular basis about the preparations for the Conference.
It was agreed that the Road Map should be extended to the Regional Conference for Europe, in case the results of the Conference were to be discussed on that occasion.
The Secretariat had received the outlines for six papers out of the seven topics which had been agreed upon during the first Steering Committee meeting. The Preparatory Meeting concluded that these topics were still relevant and could remain on the agenda of the Conference. In addition, WHO would provide a presentation of data on foodborne disease statistics in the Region. The EC was requested to ask the European Consumer Organization (BEUC) to provide a paper on consumer information and participation - interactive communication with consumers on food safety risks and food quality. Italy was prepared to provide assistance to this paper if requested.
It was pointed out that countries in transition should be more involved in the preparation of papers, in order to ensure the coverage of problems and concerns of the whole Region. The Secretariat, in co-operation with the Regional Office for Europe, was therefore requested to urge member countries in transition to participate in the process of the production of papers. A contribution to a paper on "Strengthening national food safety control programmes", will be prepared separately by Ireland or will be included in an existing title still to be prepared. It was also suggested to involve an European early warning system, strengthening national food control programmes, HACCP, risk analysis and food safety precaution systems as topics of the Conference. Current statistical information regarding food borne diseases in the Region would be very helpful in conducting the Conference.
It was decided that a mechanism should be developed to monitor the quality of the papers. The Secretariat was requested to take on this responsibility and to coordinate the process of ensuring the quality of papers. The Secretariat was also requested to ensure the full coverage of problems and concerns in the whole European Region and to match supply and demand regarding the contents of the papers. It was mentioned that attention should be paid to monitoring systems on food safety.
It was agreed that the Secretariat should analyse proposed recommendations of individual papers and prepare a synopsis of these for the Conference. It was concluded that the total number of recommendations should be limited to a reasonable number and authors would be requested to take this into consideration when preparing their documents. The planning of the synopsis would be included in the Road Map and the authors of the papers would be kept informed regarding this planning.
Regarding the ownership of the papers, different options with their advantages and disadvantages were discussed. It was decided that authors of papers would indicate to the Secretariat at an early stage what the desired ownership of the papers involved would be.
In general, the Conference Secretariat will be responsible for the substance of information and form of communication with the public and third parties. It was concluded that the Conference should be as open as possible to the public, since it covers items of great public interest and concern. It was considered important to find a manageable way to involve the public in the Conference. One area of communication with the public could be covered by participating members and NGOs. Another area of communication should be covered by an informative website and public media. Other means of communication with the public will be considered and developed by the Conference Secretariat. It was concluded that communication with the public during the Conference should be organized by the Host country in close co-operation with the Conference Secretariat.
On the basis of new information the Secretariat will revise the budget estimate and inform members and observers.
The Chair informed the meeting that the funding of the Conference and its follow-up activities were not covered and required urgent attention by members. As no allotment from the FAO budget had been foreseen, funding must come from external sources. Some members have already provided or assured substantial support in kind. All members were requested to generously contribute to the realization and financing of the Conference. The Secretariat informed the meeting that 100 % funding should be guaranteed 4 months before the event at the latest. The Secretariat requested the members to send their contributions as soon as possible otherwise preparations could get obstructed by the lack of funds. It was agreed that the Secretariat would advise the Director-General's of FAO and WHO to shortly write to members to request their financial support.
There were no other matters.
The co-chairmen informed the participants that the draft-report of this meeting would be sent to them for their comments and thanked all the participants for their constructive contributions. The co-chairmen closed the meeting.
The Swedish delegation kindly presented the results of the Conference "Food chain 2001 - safe, sustainable, ethical", held in Uppsala, Sweden, 14-16 March 2001.Two documents on this Conference were distributed to the participants of the meeting for their information.