GFSF and Bijiesh Management Consulting to Host First Ever Chinese Food Safety Risk Management Summit

GFSF and Bijiesh Management Consulting to Host First Ever Chinese Food Safety Risk Management Summit

By Steven Jordan

With the new Chinese Food Safety Laws coming into effect in October of 2015, GFSF is proud to announce the first Chinese Food Safety Risk Management Summit, aimed at informing producers and industry professionals about compliance, potential risks, and food safety liability insurance opportunities.

The Conference will be held in Xining, China, August 6-7, hosted by the Global Food Safety Forum and the Bijeshi Management Consulting Firm, co-hosted by the China Quality Certification Centre.

                The April 2015 amendments to the Basic Food Safety Laws include a provision to set up pilot food safety insurance programs.  GFSF has been working with industry for over 1.5 years to fashion insurance products that satisfy Chinese regulatory requirements and are responsive to the needs of suppliers and buyers of Chinese product.  The Summit will introduce participants with the details of these products, their applications, and the benefits of liability protection in the global supply chain. Presenters include:  Ms. Jiang: Minister of China Quality Certification Center; Mr. Qu: Deputy Minister of China Quality Certification Center, Organic Food and GAP Senior Inspector; Mr. Zhang: Senior Auditor of China Quality Certification Center; and Mr. Wang: Senior Advisor of GIC Group, Food Safety Risk Management Expert.

                Media coverage will be provided by China Central Television, Guanming Daily newspaper, China Food Safety News, Tencent Holdings Limited, and others. Current agenda and registration information may be obtained by emailing GFSF, Attn. Sidi Zhao, GIC Group: sidizhao@gicgroup.com

Food Safety Concerns within the Trans Pacific Partnership

Food Safety and the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Steven Jordan, GIC Group

            With the recent approval of Trade Promotion Authority legislation, the passage of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) seems almost inevitable. While the proposed trade agreement has sparked an intense debate on several issues, food safety concerns remain unresolved.

Critics of the TPP have been very vocal in their opposition, citing the secrecy in which the negotiations have been conducted. According to congressional sources, there is a chapter within the provisions of TPP that address SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary) measures, known as the SPS provisions within WTO (World Trade Organization). WTO now has responsibility for international SPS standards and compliance. According to our source, the TPP goes beyond current requirements, referred to as WTO Plus Standards, ensuring that nations provide science-based and internationally recognized standards, and that these measures are created in a transparent manner. The TPP doesn’t change the United States or any other participating nation’s food safety standards or laws, but does require them to be based on sound science and international standards.

            The opposition to the trade deal has expressed concern about the dilution of the U.S.’s Food Safety Modernization Act, however our sources confirmed the participation of both the Food and Drug Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture in the negotiations, and that both agencies support what has been put on the table. Goals for agencies participating in the negotiations are that the obligations detailed within the TPP are enforceable, so that current and new food safety standards ‘move from an aspirational ideal to a national obligation.’ The goal of the TPP is to reduce tariffs and other similar barriers to trade, which raises concerns over the possibility of increased seafood originating in Vietnam for instance, where past shipments have been a prime source of cargo rejections. Congressional sources in support of TPP maintain that with stiff surveillance in the US, there may be a shift to less regulated markets such as China.  In their view, the manner in which the FDA addresses the issues of food safety will not change as a result, and importers will still be held just as accountable as ever.