Global Food Safety Forum presents the Beijing Summit 2015, “Food Safety Technologies and Compliance,” June 13-14, 2015

This year's GFSF Summit on New Food Safety Technologies was a great success, thanks to the excellent presenters from the private and public sectors, over 500 enthusiastic registrants, and our special guest—the GFSF robot on stage.

This year’s Summit followed the release of the 2015 White Paper on the critical role these new technologies play in ensuring the safety and quality of the global food supply chain.  The Beijing Summit assembled world stature presenters to discuss new food safety technologies as drivers of compliance. We also hosted two workshops on new GFSF products: an e-course food safety curriculum in collaboration with the University of Maryland/ JIFSAN (Joint Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition)and new food safety liability and recall contamination insurance products hosted by Frank Wang, GIC’s senior advisor on Risk Management  in collaboration with Willis Group Holdings, an insurance agency with offices in China.

CCTV hosted the Summit which insured all our speakers and guests wide coverage.

If you or colleagues were unable to attend, we hope you will hold your dates for next year’s June Summit. Meanwhile we have an exciting year ahead and hope you will join GFSF in our work in China and as we expand our franchise to other Asian markets.

 

For Summit information, go to http://asansbury.wix.com/conference-2015 or contact me:

Rick Gilmore

Chairman, GFSF

rickgilmore@gicgroup.com

(703)684-1366

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. 

How Regulation and Technology are Driving Food Safety in Asia

Contributed by Rick Gilmore, Chairman, Global Food Safety Forum (GFSF)

In every industry, changes to either regulation or technology serve as a catalyst for innovation in the other.

As China continues to significantly tighten its food safety regulations and ASEAN works towards a harmonised future for food regulations, many companies in Asia are looking at what new technologies they may need to ensure a safe food supply for consumers in the region, and speculating on what these changes might bring.

China’s food safety focus

China’s new laws, announced last month (April 2015), are widely considered its toughest food safety laws ever, and will officially take effect from October 2015. Some of the changes include centralising supervision of food production and trading activities under the China Drug & Food Administration (CDFA), greater focus on risk prevention, stricter food ingredient and processing regulations, and tougher penalties for violations.

For many companies, this means in some cases they will need to review how they process foodstuffs, innovate in their production processes, and also how they apply better food safety testing measures at the production stage.

Meeting international standards

Globally, as food safety regulations become both more stringent and more detailed in their requirements; regulatory systems - reinforced by international standards, have propelled forward both new technology developments in food safety and broader adoption of existing technologies.

It will be ever more important for food producers and manufacturers operating in Asia to keep pace with these technological innovations to avoid building potential future barriers to trade or local production.

The US Food Safety Modernisation Act (FSMA) administered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) focuses on prevention, inspections, compliance and response, imports, and enhanced partnerships.

Introduced in 2011, looking at preventative controls alone, FSMA calls for the introduction of hazard analysis and critical control point systems. This means food manufacturing plants need to have in place process, allergen, and sanitation controls plus a monitoring system and recall plan. To ensure reliability of the system in place, the food producers in the U.S. must have access to verification instrumentation.

In another related area, the Foreign Supplier Verification Program under FSMA, equivalency is the norm. This means that foreign suppliers must conduct science-based verification that their product imported to the US, is safe. The list goes on.

The EU example of regulation impacting technology

With international standards intended as the norm, other systems such as the European Union’s (EU) Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed under EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) are designed to secure compliance with European standards, long considered among the toughest in the world.

The implementation of all such systems is dependent on appropriate technologies and in response we have witnessed a synchronisation between regulatory requirements and the introduction of new food safety technologies. Together, they form the risk mitigation architecture for food safety in the global supply chain.

GFSF’S white paper titled, Food Safety Technologies: Key Tools for Compliance, notes that the 1996 HAACP rule led to steam pasteurisation prevention and that a recent EU food labelling regulation resulted in the introduction of new ‘use-by date’ modelling software systems. Lauryn Bailey and Laura Baker of SCIEX write in the GFSF publication, “Modern food and beverage testing has advanced into a rigorous practice carried out on precision, state-of-the-art instruments that supply critical information about contaminant levels in all types of food and drink – from farm-fresh produce to factory-prepared foods.”

In conjunction with the evolving global structure of the food and feed industries, pathogen controls face new challenges. Pathogens, of course, know no territorial borders. Prevention norms and controlling outbreaks and contagions requires an increasing level of sophistication in detection. Technology, once again, has risen to the occasion. Polymerase chain reaction kits shorten the detection period and reduce the cost of lab reviews under ELISA (enzyme linked immune absorbent assay) methods which may require up to a week for conclusive results.

Food safety challenges in ASEAN

In the newly forming ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) we also see first-hand how different regulatory standards can create a lapse in technology adoption in food safety, that are required to keep pace in an increasingly global marketplace.

One of the challenges as ASEAN works towards harmonisation of its food regulatory standards is the varying technical capabilities on the ground in different countries to enable adoption. While there is scope and willingness to invest in new food technologies, most state-of-the-art equipment requires a higher-level understanding of food science, which requires investment to upskill local technicians dealing in the area. In response, ASEAN working groups are focusing on this area to develop the laboratory capabilities across the Member States.

A safer future

As Asia enters an exciting new era of growth in food technology development and expertise driven by enhanced food safety regulation, it’s an exciting time to be at the forefront of these developments, and two way dialogue and partnership between the public and private sector will be key to successfully delivering food safety benefits for consumers.

In step with these changes, this year’s annual Beijing Summit, hosted by the Global Food Safety Forum (GFSF), on June 13 and 14, will focus on the role of technology in regulatory compliance and the breakthrough technologies that are in place to meet new challenges, as well as insurance models for food safety liability.
Link: http://foodindustry.asia/how-regulation-and-technology-are-driving-food-safety-in-asia

Food Industry Asia (FIA) has a select number of tickets available for FIA Members who are interested in attending and joining the conversion. For more information on the conference visit here.