5. The opening ceremony began with welcome remarks from the Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica, the Honourable Doris Osterlof. In her remarks, she underlined the importance of ensuring safe food to increase the competitiveness of food exports from the countries of the region in the light of increasingly strict food import regulations. The speaker also noted the need for safe food to ensure the health of increasingly demanding domestic consumers. The text of her address is appended as Annex 3.
6. Mr Alan Bojanic, FAO Representative in Costa Rica, noted the important role of food safety in food security and health. He highlighted the multisectoral nature of food safety and the need for a production-to-consumption approach to food safety. The speaker expressed the desire that the conference would lead to collaborative work within and between the countries of the region to improve the safety of food.
7. Mr Carlos Samayoa, WHO Representative in Costa Rica, noted in his welcoming remarks that food safety is one of the priority areas of WHO and that many of the current food safety problems are a reflection of lack of integrated intersectoral systems.
8. In his welcoming remarks on behalf of FAO, Mr Kraisid Tontisirin, Director, Food and Nutrition Division, highlighted the importance of food safety as a bedrock for nutrition and food security, as well as for trading food internationally. He recalled that ensuring safe and nutritious food contributes to the member countries of the region achieving the Millennium Development Goals. He recounted the challenges for the countries of the region to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their food control systems. The speaker informed the Conference of various actions taken by FAO, in partnership with WHO and other organizations, to assist member countries in their efforts to improve food safety and quality. He reiterated his organization's readiness to further expand its capacity building programme to work with the countries of the region in this field. The text of his speech is appended in Annex 4.
9. Mr Jørgen Schlundt, Director, Department of Food Safety, Zoonoses and Foodborne Diseases, WHO, welcomed the participants on behalf of WHO. He noted that WHO estimates that 57 000 people die every year from food- and waterborne diarrhoeal diseases in the region of the Americas, although the total burden of food-borne disease is very difficult to estimate. He stressed the importance of INFOSAN, the International Food Safety Authorities Network, which WHO and FAO launched one year ago to facilitate international collaboration to address this global burden. The speaker noted that, in May 2005, the World Health Assembly adopted the revised International Health Regulations (IHR) which provide a unique framework for the containment of public health emergencies of international concern, and will include INFOSAN. The text of his speech is appended in Annex 5.
10. The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Production of Costa Rica, the Honourable Rodolfo Coto, welcomed the participants to the Conference and urged them to seize the opportunity to share their food safety knowledge and achievements. He stressed how important it was for public institutions to work with private companies in enhancing food safety. In this connection, he referred to Costa Rica's Inter-institutional Committee on Food Safety (CIIA) and its excellent work of coordination in this regard. The text of his speech is appended in Annex 6.
11. In her welcoming remarks, the Honourable María del Rocío Sáenz, Minister of Health of Costa Rica, provided data on food-borne diseases in Costa Rica and noted that national actions had achieved a reduction in diarrhoeal-related deaths from 135 in 1995 to 93 in 2004. She concluded her intervention by requesting the Conference to develop recommendations on how to strengthen national multisectoral food control systems, including improving the regulatory environment, surveillance of food-borne diseases and transfer of appropriate technologies. The text of her speech is appended in Annex 7.
12. The Minister of Economy, Industry and Commerce, the Honourable Gilberto Barrantes, officially opened the Conference by noting the high level of commitment of the government of Costa Rica for this Conference. He highlighted the essential need to strengthen national food control systems, as this benefits public health as well as improving the national economy. The speaker also emphasized that in order to improve the safety of food; cooperation is needed between government officials, consumers and private industry, including small and medium producers. The text of his address is appended as Annex 8.
13. The Conference designated Ms Isabel Araya of Costa Rica as Conference Chair, Ms Carolina Padró of Argentina and Mr Modesto Omar Robles Velásquez of Cuba as Conference Vice-Chairs and Mr Bertrand Gagnon of Canada as Conference Rapporteur. The Conference expressed its appreciation to these members for their agreement to serve in these roles.
14. The Conference adopted the proposed agenda and agreed to the timetable as presented by the secretariat.
