Final report of the FAO/WHO Regional Conference on Food Safety for Asia and the Pacific

Annex 5

Opening Remarks by
Mr H. De Haen

Assistant Director-General,
Economic and Social Department
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Excellencies, honourable guests, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,

It is my pleasure to welcome you on behalf of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to the FAO/WHO Regional Conference on Food Safety for Asia and the Pacific. This Conference is part of a series of regional conferences that FAO and WHO are convening to provide a forum where food safety officials from the region can get together to share information and experiences on how the safety of foods may be improved.

The present Conference is being held in line with the recommendations of the First FAO/WHO Global Forum of Food Safety Regulators in Marrakech, Morocco in January 2002 and in preparation for the forthcoming Second Global Forum to be held in Bangkok, Thailand from 12 to 14 October 2004.

I would like to emphasize a few concepts that are fundamental to the success of this Conference: first, the critical importance of food safety; second, the challenges to improving food safety; and third, the practical actions that are being taken by FAO and other partner agencies to promote food safety.

The importance of food safety

• Ensuring safe and healthy food is an important precondition of food security. It is essential for improving human life in all countries, whether developed or developing.
• The World Food Summit, organized by FAO in 1996, recognized that access to safe food is in itself an element of food security. Rather than being a luxury of the rich, all people should have the right to an adequate supply of safe, nutritious food.
• The costs incurred in each outbreak of food borne illness include a number of direct and indirect costs. In developed countries, the average estimated cost is US$100/person/year and the cost could be even greater in developing countries. The death toll of food borne illnesses is staggering: just diarrhoea caused by contaminated food and unclean water kills 1.8 million people per year.
• Practices aimed at improving food safety also reduce food losses, thus increasing food availability. A number of advanced technologies and practical control measures are available for countries to improve the safety of food, thus extending its usable life.
• Countries of the region are well aware of the importance of food safety for both exports and imports. For example, the detection of chloramphenicol residues in products shipped to the EU caused a recent ban on seafood and poultry imports into the EU, which cost one Asian country $335 million of lost exports opportunities.

Challenges to improving food safety

Despite these well-known and important reasons to improve food safety, the increased global knowledge and availability of advanced tools and technologies to improve food safety, many challenges remain. Let me mention just five:

1. Implementing standards often increases costs for food producers and processors and may force some suppliers out of business.
   
2. The benefits of aiming for completely safe food, i.e. food with “zero-risk”, should be balanced against the loss of competitiveness through the often high cost involved.
   
3. Individual countries are often unable to respond to food safety in emergency situations unless these are integrated in a regional cooperation network.
   
4. There is a widespread lack of consumer awareness for food safety which countries need to address through adequate communication and education policies.
   
5. The capacity of many countries to implement food safety measures and to monitor food borne diseases is inadequate.

There could not be a more timely confirmation of the relevance of concerted action, than the two events that hit the media headlines during the last two days. One is the Salmonella contamination of raw Almonds detected in California which resulted in the recall of large quantities from the market including quantities already exported into the Asian region. The other event is the death of 25 to 40 people in Kenya. Although we have no confirmation, the media report about the suspicion that these have been caused by consumption of Maize heavily contaminated by Aflatoxins.

This Conference is just one example of FAO’s efforts to improve the safety of our food throughout the world and specifically in the Asia and Pacific region. And there are good reasons for this region to address food safety risks particularly. Let me mention just three:

1) Rapid urbanization

With the rising number of people living in (mega) cities, people eat more processed food, marketing chains and shelf lives become longer, street food expands etc. All of this has implications for food safety.

2) Trade

The countries of the region are particularly involved in trade, both as exporters and importers. Hence, food quality and safety standards of trading partners must be respected.

3) Livestock revolution

By livestock revolution we mean the rapid expansion of consumption of animal products, particularly in this region where incomes have been growing rapidly. As a result, livestock production is growing and so are the risks of animal diseases. The vicinity of people and animals, in particular poultry, poses additional health risks.

Practical actions by FAO and partners to promote food safety

FAO is involved in many practical actions to promote food safety throughout the world. These include:

1. Provision of scientific advice on food safety risks by FAO and WHO to members of Codex Alimentarius.
2. Holding of expert consultations (often with WHO) on open issues. Recent examples include Microbial Risk Assessments, Acrylamide in foods, and the Safety Assessment of Genetically Modified foods.
3. FAO, WHO, OIE, WTO, and the World Bank have recently established a Standards and Trade Development Facility to coordinate the capacity building efforts of these organizations in the areas of food safety, plant, and animal health. An FAO/WHO project to assist the low income countries of Asia and the Pacific in Developing Food Standards within a Risk Analysis Framework has recently been approved for funding from this Facility and will be implemented in the upcoming months.
4. Manuals and Guidelines. For example FAO/WHO Guidelines for Strengthening National Food Control Systems were published in 2003. A Manual on Risk Analysis and a training package on Codex are under development.
5. FAO and WHO have implemented a Trust Fund for Participation in Codex to increase the participation of developing countries and countries in transition in the vital work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
6. Capacity and technical assistance. Examples include eight regional and sub-regional workshops on different food safety aspects in Asia and the Pacific in the past 3 years; and national technical assistance projects.
7. Food borne disease surveillance. We will discuss a new initiative for the region at this Conference. and hopefully agree on concrete steps.
8. Ensuring access to information. I am pleased to announce that FAO will also launch the International Portal on Food Safety, Animal and Plant Health during this Conference. This Portal will provide national governments and trading partners with access to official relevant information.
9. The World Health Assembly has just adopted a Global Strategy on DIET, PHYSICAL
   ACTIVITY AND HEALTH to address the rising burden non-communicable diseases by promoting healthy diets and lifestyles. FAO is determined to collaborate with WHO and member countries in the implementation of this global strategy which has indirect relevance for food safety.

Conclusion

Countries in Asia and the Pacific have made remarkable progress in improving food security for their people and increasing the competitiveness of their food and agricultural products. These achievements need to be strengthened and expanded. Countries must also invest more in food safety, not only to enable the region to further improve its trading opportunities, but also to protect the health of their own consumers domestically.

Opportunities for regional cooperation and exchange of information at all levels must be improved. FAO and WHO have jointly convened this Regional Conference on Food Safety for Asia and the Pacific for exactly these purposes.

I want to thank you in advance for your efforts in addressing the many important issues you will face during the next four days. I wish you all the best in your deliberations and I look forward with anticipation to the results of those deliberations.