Protection against animal and plant diseases and pests and against food safety threats and preventing their spread, is one of the keys to fighting hunger, malnutrition and poverty.

The Emergency Prevention Systems (EMPRES) have the mandate to address prevention and early warning across the entire food chain. This is done through the following systems:

• EMPRES Animal Health: animal diseases, including aquatic animal diseases
• EMPRES Plant Protection: plant pests and diseases including desert locust and forest plant pests and diseases
• EMPRES Food Safety

EMPRES promotes the effective containment and control of the most serious epidemic pests and diseases and food safety threats through international cooperation involving early warning, early reaction, enabling research and coordination.

Approach adapted to the food chain

Approaches to and development of emergency prevention and early warning on animal health, plant protection and food safety are different. EMPRES takes these differences into consideration with respect to the institutional linkages which need to be established and maintained with countries, regionally and globally.

The need for FAO to help set up international governance of food chain crises in the interest of livelihoods and consumer health, opportunities for enhancing and optimizing the effectiveness of risk assessment, risk management and risk communication along the food chain need to be identified and used.