FAO/WHO Global Forum of Food Safety Regulators
Marrakesh, Morocco, 28 - 30 January 2002
Improving Efficiency and Transparency in Food Safety Systems
Sharing Experiences
Appendix II
Opening Remarks
of The Ministers of Health and Agriculture
of the Kingdom of Morocco
Mr Ahmed Sbihi
Representative for H.E. Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development, Water, and Forestry
The Kingdom of Morocco
Your Excellency,
Mr. Governor,
Distinguished participants,
Mr. Director-General of the FAO,
Mr. Director-General of the WHO,
Honourable Regional Representatives of these two organizations,
Distinguished Ambassadors, Experts, Ladies and Gentlemen;
Allow me first of all to welcome, in my name and on behalf of the Government of His Majesty King Mohammad VI, the delegates of the Member States of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization, the experts in these two organizations, and the representatives of all other organizations participating in this scientific event. This gathering aims, as you all know, at exchanging experiences and identifying cooperation opportunities for more efficient and transparent food safety evaluation and system measures world wide.
It is a great honour for the Kingdom of Morocco to host this Global Forum in Marrakesh where the World Trade Organization (WTO) came into being in April 1994. Hosting the Forum is an embodiment of His Majesty King Mohammad VI's sublime volition that was expressed during the audience of FAO's Director-General, Mr. Jacques Diouf with His Majesty during his visit to Morocco last year. His Majesty showed great interest in this Forum given his concern about this field.
Ladies and gentlemen,
What makes this Forum so important to us? First of all, because food safety is nowadays a strategic priority for all states and international organizations, such as the FAO, WHO, WTO and others, due to the economic globalization, the freedom of exchange, and the ensuing increase in production and expanded use of technology.
Therefore, we are all requested in such a gathering to build on the Rome Declaration which came as a result of the 1996 World Food Summit. All leaders participating in the Summit stressed the right of all to have access to sufficient and safe food.
The idea of holding such an international event emerged during the G8 Summit in Okinawa in 1999. During its Conference in Genoa, Italy in 2001 the G8 emphasized the need to include the food security issue among the urgent issues to be discussed at the global level, in order to come up with an efficient health crisis prevention mechanism based on scientific data.
In fact, in view of the recent health-related crises, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or the presence of high levels of dioxin in food products of animal origin, which had severe economical and social repercussions in most developed and underdeveloped countries, major efforts are needed to satisfy the consumers' needs in facing health-related hazards.
We see this Forum as an appropriate platform for those responsible for food safety in over 150 countries, to freely express their concerns and exchange their expertise and experiences in this regard.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The importance of this Forum stems also from the nature of the issues on its agenda. These are important and complex issues as they compare varying procedures according to each country, culture and means, but all aim at an unique objective, i.e. ensuring the safety of consumers.
I would like to discuss in particular the issue of "capacity building" which is, in our view, a practical framework to promote international cooperation in order to assist developing countries in the implementation of food safety mechanisms.
Although most developed countries have reached a high level of food safety, most developing countries are still lagging behind due to limited financial resources and lack of expertise.
In developed countries, globalization and the liberalization of markets occurred in a framework of highly-processed agricultural and animal products. Another characteristic is the increase in the consumers' needs and the existence of more tighter laws and more sophisticated monitoring techniques. All these factors make the access of the developing countries' exports to the markets of these countries extremely complicated and difficult.
However, in developing countries, the globalization and the freedom of exchange occurred with an unsophisticated production system with limited marketability and informal trade. Also, the majority of citizens in these countries are more concerned about their basic subsistence needs; while the control mechanisms lack the necessary financial and human resources, therefore making the national markets the main target of likely hazardous and unsafe products. These structural impediments, in addition to the lowering of customs tariffs, will certainly lead to imbalances in trade exchanges in favour of developed countries.
This shows us the valuable role of the global community as a whole in setting a framework of solidarity enabling all people to have access to sufficient and safe food products. The international organizations concerned also play a vital role, in particular FAO and WHO, in filling the gap among countries in terms of plant sanitary control systems. In this regard, it is necessary to establish an international fund with the sufficient financial resources in order to finance framework-setting, elaboration, and rehabilitation programmes for developing countries. At the same time, FAO and WHO play a crucial role in finalizing diagnosis and premonitory studies and in participating in the elaboration of action plans that will satisfy the needs of these states. Developing countries should be enabled to participate in the setting of international standards and measures such as the international sanitary reference code or Codex Alimentarius, in order for them to preserve their interests with equal opportunities in terms of trade exchange. This will provide the international law with an unsuspected legitimacy thanks to the preservation of the interests of all countries around the world.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Morocco is fully aware of the importance of food for the Moroccan consumers' health and for the reputation of its food exports. Therefore, we introduced a package of in-depth reforms to the national sanitary safety system.
In this regard, a network of laboratories was set up covering the entire territory and satisfying most of the needs in terms of analysis; this in addition to a special rehabilitation programme which trained a large number of specialised human personnel. On the border check-points, a newly created unified network is in charge of sanitary control. A broad-based programme was also launched to create self-control regulations at the production units' level, based on sophisticated techniques such as the "Forestry check-points for risk assessment technique" (HACCP) and the "Good production procedures technique" (BPF).
We were also able, with FAO's support, to reform and modernize the basic law on fraud fighting. We are currently working on the creation of a neutral scientific assessment agency for sanitary hazards in food, in addition to a structural reform study to cope with these hazards.
In the same context, we included the food traceability issue on our list of priorities. We are also trying to make a clear distinction between risk assessment and risk prevention operations in order to optimize the control's transparency and autonomy with regard to public authorities, industrialists and non-industrialists. The control institutions and those responsible for risk prevention should coordinate their efforts to reach a high level of food safety. All kinds of cooperation - whether bilateral of multilateral - are welcome in this regard in order to work on a common basis which will ensure the sanitary safety of food both on the regional and the international levels.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Given the high-level participation in this Forum, its activities will certainly lead to practical results and recommendations which will contribute to the elaboration of new working trends and plans to provide the needed protection and prevention for all people.
Finally, I would again like to thank FAO and WHO for choosing the Kingdom of Morocco to host the First Global Forum of Food Safety Regulators. I would like to welcome you all to Morocco and to extend my best wishes for the success of our Forum.
Thank you.
H.E. Touhami Khiari
Minister of Health- The Kingdom of Morocco
Distinguished Representatives of FAO and WHO,
Your Excellencies the Ambassadors,
Ladies and gentlemen,
First of all, I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to FAO and WHO for choosing Morocco to host this important Forum and I wish all participants a pleasant stay among us.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Such meetings make Marrakesh the capital of international gatherings and conferences and enhance its reputation as the city where important decisions are taken. Our city has been the birthplace of World Trade Organization in 1994. Recently, countries around the world agreed here to take important steps towards combating pollution at the 7th Conference on Climate Change.
Apart from its beauty, cultural heritage and history, Marrakesh has always been a welcoming place that brings people together. That is why Marrakesh has been chosen for this meeting with the hope of adopting decisions which will improve human life.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In spite of the technological revolution we enjoy today, we are still confused regarding certain issues. These issues are related to unprecedented changes and developments in our societies which make us wonder how human brains can assimilate and accommodate such new ideas and technologies. Among these issues are the way we behave, our patterns of living and how to achieve our aspirations.
The theme of your meeting is within one of these issues. The way we handle such a theme is contrary to what we might have imagined not very long ago. The recent events and the way they were handled politically and at the media level would not have the same effect had they occurred twenty or even ten years ago. The ever changing needs of the world population, the development of their rights and the struggle to maintain them have not limited the pressures to institutional bodies, but have extended to include the media, the civil society and other means. Politicians are subjected to greater pressures other than the responsibilities they have been entrusted with.
To find solutions to all these problems and to respond to the needs of our citizens, we have to first identify them and then find real solutions.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The theme of today's meeting reflects these conditions under which we live in. Let us take, for example, BSE, which was the major international event that led to severe actions at the international level, even without any scientific proof to justify them. A new concept has been introduced in our terminology related to precautionary measures. While a clear definition of such measures were absent, they were applied blindly and in many cases in an exaggerated way.
The most striking example is the withdrawal of the suture used in surgical operations extracted from cows. The reason given was that it could cause possible damage in the long run. Instead an artificial and expensive one was introduced with the consequences of such action. Now the question is how to accept these consequences in order to avoid possible dangers which could be subjective in nature?
Adopting such measures has financial implications which burden the budget of every state. It is not a secret to tell you that an action such as this is detrimental to our people's needs and creates problems to our development programmes.
In the meantime, the complexity of the problem remains within conflicting economic interests and preoccupation of a human dimension. If we have to create wealth, it should not be at the expense of human interest and acceptance of the status quo. The integration of world economy would create comparative advantages to individuals, groups and societies. However, it would lead to food dependence on a global level.
Your meeting is important as it tackles problems related to changes and shifts in our societies, which require new methods and solutions to ensure food security to our people.
The last years ten years have witnessed the increase of food-related diseases world wide. These diseases have social, psychological and economic implications that go beyond the individual, the family and society to reach an international level. No state is isolated from such problems, however, the most affected are the developing countries which lack resources, mechanisms, technologies, legal and logistic capabilities to address such problems. These problems are doubled as these countries import food and commodities to satisfy the basic needs of their population.
Although the number of mad cow cases declared by developing countries does mean much, this epidemic indirectly reached Europe and it was obliged to destroy huge numbers of animals and animal products and use alternative and expensive products.
Ladies and gentlemen,
During the last century, food-related diseases have been brought under control, however, their economic, social or cultural implications could not be identified or assessed. Therefore, strategies in food safety should concentrate on sustainable actions. Efforts in this field should also be coordinated at the national and international levels. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate consumer societies which played an important role in improving the standard of food safety.
Your meeting is an occasion to exchange information on problems related to food safety, identifying shortfalls and developing strategies. I believe that the aim of this meeting is to give a scientific dimension to the question of food safety and to find logical and realistic solutions. Scientists are requested to clarify the problem so as countries, especially developing countries, can take necessary actions without wasting their resources. These actions should be taken without any external pressures, especially from developed countries, within new equilibrium and globalization.
Ladies and gentlemen,
There is a need for an approach based on identifying risks in food safety to improve the detection of food-related diseases and to develop national infrastructures to analyze them, especially in developing countries.
As you know, science and technology are developing rapidly, however, the gap between developed and developing countries is widening to the detriment of the latter as they lack analytical techniques in this field.
We have, therefore, to think of an international system in the form of an agency or observatory to coordinate food safety and identify food risks among countries at the international level. Assistance has to be provided to developing countries to strengthen their systems of control for food safety.
Finally, I would like express my congratulations to the organizers of this meeting especially those from FAO and WHO and to extend my thanks to the participants who share their knowledge and experience with us. I wish your meeting every success and the best of luck.
| 
