The second Asia-Pacific Food Regulatory Authority Summit (APFRAS), convened by the Government of the Republic of Korea, is taking place in Seoul, Republic of Korea this week. Several Asia-Pacific countries are participating in the meeting, including Australia, China, New Zealand and the International Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), representing Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam. Corinna Hawkes, Director of the FAO Division of Agrifood Systems and Food Safety and Codex Secretary ad interim is attending as a keynote speaker, alongside Moez Sanaa, Unit Head, Standards and Scientific Advice on Food and Nutrition at the World Health Organization (WHO) and Diego Varela, Vice-Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and Executive Secretary of Chilean Food Safety and Quality Agency (ACHIPIA).

In his introduction to the conference on Monday 13 May, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea, Duck-Soo Han, said “Today, there are no borders like those that once defined the food industry … Given the closely interconnected global food markets, solidarity and cooperation among nations are of utmost importance.” He introduced the theme of this year’s event as ‘New Pathways for Food Safety Innovation in the Asia-Pacific Region’ and looked forward to the discussions and information sharing that the event promises. “A healthy and safe diet is a fundamental right that all global citizens should enjoy,” he concluded.

Opening remarks were offered by Yu-Kyoung Oh, Minister of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of the Republic of Korea, who said “I hope that APFRAS will be a meaningful forum for discussion, sharing food safety management systems using digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, and seeking solutions and solidarity on food safety issues.”

Dr Hawkes, in her keynote speech on “The importance of strategic collaboration to the global food regulatory environment,” underlined the fundamental importance of food safety in agrifood systems. She spoke of the local, national and global roles of the One Health approach as part of the strategic collaboration that will ensure food safety management and controls throughout agrifood systems.

She also met with Prime Minister Han, who emphasized the importance of harmonizing food standards internationally. Hawkes was also able to extend to officials of the Republic of Korea the sincere gratitude of FAO for the country’s support to food safety projects, most notably the Action to support implementation of Codex AMR Texts (ACT) project and the Empowering low- and middle-income countries to leverage One Health to improve food safety and fair trade project. On behalf of Codex she was able to commend the Republic of Korea’s commitment to the work of the food standards setting body and express thanks for the generous contribution the country makes to the Codex Trust Fund project.

Hawkes also delivered a presentation to university students studying regulatory science about Introducing FAO and Understanding Codex in a side event symposium on regulatory Science.

Korea established this ministerial level food regulators coalition in the Asia-Pacific region in 2023 to address common challenges in the food sector, such as food policy, emerging food technologies and safe food trade.

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APFRAS website
ACT project
Codex Trust Fund

Photo © Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Republic of Korea