The Ad hoc Working Group of Experts in Food Safety of APFIC met at the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand, from 15-17 March 1999. The agenda and the list of members are attached as Appendices 1 and 2.
The establishment of an Ad hoc Working Group was agreed by the Twenty-sixth Session of APFIC, held in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, in September 1998. This was in response to the principal recommendation of the APFIC Symposium on Fish Utilization in the Asia-Pacific Region, which was held in conjunction with the Session. The recommendation recognized the urgent need for a regional programme of research to address three serious emerging food safety issues associated with sustainable and safe fish production in the region. These issues are:
An outline of the objectives, justification and activities of the Working Group were annexed to the report of the Symposium and are attached to this report as Appendix 3. In brief the Working Group aims to encourage the formulation and conduct of a regional integrated research programme and to report progress to the 27th Session of the Commission. It is understood that the programme will require external funding (for which donor support must be found) and will be designed to:
Immediately following the Working Group meeting there was a specific workshop on the issue of parasitic infestations caused by trematodes. The workshop gave the opportunity for a detailed analysis of the problem and the formulation of a proposal for research. Both are included in the report of the workshop attached as Appendix 4. The discussions are summarized below together with consideration of the other issues of pathogenic bacteria and the safety of aquaculture products.
