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| News Detail |
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| FAO MEETING FOR SENIOR FOOD SAFETY PROFESSIONALS |
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 the Lao People's Democratic Republic, 23 Sep 2009 -- Vientiane - A two day meeting for senior food safety risk managers and scientific advisors was held in Vientiane on 21–22 September 2009 to prioritise food safety problems and discuss decision-making strategies for their effective control. The meeting was opened by Dr. Bounkouang Phichit, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Health. In his opening remarks Dr. Phichit stressed the importance of education, training and science to strengthen food handling and storage practices by farmers, processors and consumers. Dr. Phichit stated that food safety is a priority issue for the Government of Laos.
Participation in the meeting was active with a range of line Ministries represented including Senior Managers from Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, National Science and Technology Agency, Provincial Health Department, a WHO representative, and national universities.
The meeting was organised to discuss food safety problems that risk managers are faced with, and to identify how ministries, scientists and staff can work together to analyse problems and come up with options for addressing them.
“Food Safety risk managers are constantly under pressure with many important tasks”, says Serge Verniau, FAO Representative to Lao PDR. “Among others, they need to respond to international obligations, the commitments to the ASEAN food safety programmes, as well as national controls and regulations. Often, however, there is limited time, money, and staff. Effective use of available resources is key to minimising food borne illness and disruption to food trade”.
The participants realised the merits of multidisciplinary teams – these tend to make better decisions by optimising data sharing and objective scientific information to strengthen the existing food control systems. “By focusing on the science we have a greater possibility of finding the true hazards, prioritizing the issues and having confidence that we can make the right decisions and a real difference in ensuring food safety”, explained Richard Ellis and Dorothy-Jean McCoubrey, FAO facilitators.
A follow-up FAO meeting will be organized in November 2009 to further discuss the priority food safety issues and the options proposed by scientists for their effective prevention and control. The training was co-organized by FAO and the Food and Drug Department of the Ministry of Health.
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