Highlights from GFSF Vietnam

In case you weren't able to make it to Ho Chi Minh City, here are four highlights from our just concluded GFSF Vietnam Conference. Select presentations from the conference can also be found on this link: https://www.gfsfvietnam.org/presentations

·       Vincent Paez, Director of the Global Food Safety Forum (GFSF) presented the various technologies that are used to detect and identify contaminants in the food supply. Paez offered insight into how these technologies have developed for the food testing laboratories and have started to make their way to the production site in a more portable form factor. Finally, Paez touched on the use of blockchain stored information as a potential solution to many food industry problems.

·       Janie Dubois, Laboratory Manager at JIFSAN, discussed foreign supplier requirements for the export of food and agricultural products to the United States. Dubois stressed that it is the importer’s responsibility to not only define supplier verification activities which they either perform or delegate to third parties, but also apply corrective actions in order to correct any problems.

·       Truong Lac, Lead Auditor at SGS, tackled the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and its implications for Vietnamese suppliers. Lac highlighted key supplier verification activities, including the Voluntary Qualified Importer Program (VQIP), a voluntary program for foreign suppliers which allows for expedited entry of food products into the United States. 

·       Ha Phuong Minh, Business Development Manager for Eurofins, presented on foreign supplier requirements for the export of food and agricultural products to the European Union. Minh pointed out that according to EU regulations, exporters are ultimately responsible for engaging the services of agricultural experts that can work with farmers to ensure that they are using the right pesticides.