(a) Report on FAO and WHO Activities in the Region
(b) Reports by Member Countries
(c) Discussion by the Committee
37. The FAO Representative noted that there were a significant number of Joint FAO/WHO activities related to the needs of the member governments represented at this Session. Regarding food control and food safety issues, including acceptance of codex standards, it was noted that FAO and WHO collaborated on ten international consultations, meetings and conferences related to Codex food safety and quality matters since the 11th Session of the Committee in 1997. Specifically, FAO and WHO held consultations on risk communication, human vitamin and mineral requirements, and on risk assessment of microbiological hazards in foods. In collaboration with UNEP, an international conference was held on mycotoxins. Four meetings of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives were held. The 51st and 53rd JECFA meetings on food additives assessed over 500 food additives, including 435 flavoring agents and three contaminants, and considered allergenicity of peanut and soya bean oils. The 50th and 52nd JECFA reviewed 29 veterinary drugs. In addition, two meetings of the Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues were held. A total of 45 pesticides were assessed.
38. The FAO Representative noted that the FAO work being carried out in many countries of Asia was important in relation to the WTO’s SPS and TBT Agreements. In particular, FAO sponsored five global activities on food safety and quality matters including procedures for validation of analytical methods for food control purposes in collaboration with IAEA, an expert consultation on Listeria in fish products, an international food data conference and an international meeting on international trade beyond 2000.
39. On the regional level, FAO has undertaken many activities in Asia through its regular programmes as well as its field programmes. In particular, FAO carried out Technical Cooperation Projects in Thailand, India and Viet Nam. The objectives of these projects are to aid in improving food control infrastructures, provide training in food safety and quality control with special emphasis on Good Manufacturing Practices and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points, and assist in developing food export inspection and certification systems to support food export in Member countries in Asia. In addition, workshops on science-based harmonization of food quality and safety measures and on risk analysis were jointly organized by FAO and the International Life Sciences Institute for Asian counties. FAO’s Fisheries Division organized workshops and other training activities on HACCP-based systems for the fishery industry. Finally, it was noted that FAO held a regional seminar on street food development at the FAO Regional Office.
40. From these endeavours many recommendations, guidance documents and related texts have been prepared that will be acted upon by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, member governments and Expert Bodies. New initiatives and programmes coming from these accomplishments are expected to further advance the food safety and international trade objectives of Codex and Member countries within Asia.
41. The Representative of WHO reported the activities related to the Region. He also introduced scope of WHO’s activities by categorizing them into three areas: 1) normative work, such as the work of JECFA/JMPR and a WHO Consultation on Strategy for implementing HACCP in Small and/or Less Developed Businesses, 2) surveillance of foodborne diseases and monitoring of hazards in foods; 3) technology transfer/technical assistance, such as organization of workshops/seminars and development of training manuals. Most of normative work were available through the WHO web site (http://www.who.int/fsf.).
42. The Committee noted the WHO South-East Regional Office (SEARO) Consultation on the Development of a Strategic Plan for Food Safety in the region. The Consultation recommended Member Countries to follow the Ten Point Regional Strategy for Food Safety Improvement, which covers the area of food safety policies, food legislation, food control and inspection, analytical capacity, epidemiological system, establishing working relationship with the food industry and trade, establishing working relationships with food service providers and retailers, establishing effective relationship with consumers, education and training in food safety and research in food safety. The Committee also noted that the technical assistance to implement the Strategy to Member countries in the SEARO region was being undertaken. Further information on technical assistance in the individual countries can be obtained from the Regional Offices in India and Philippine, as well as from WHO’s Headquarters.
43. In relation to the implementation of HACCP in countries in the Region, the Representative of WHO informed the Committee of the report of Joint FAO/WHO Consultation on the Role of Government Agencies in Assessing HACCP (WHO/FSF/FOS/98.5), which addresses the shift in the role of government agencies from traditional inspection method towards assessment of HACCP systems. He also informed that the report of the Joint FAO/IAEA/WHO Study Group on High Dose Irradiation (WHO Technical Report Series No. 890) was recently finalized and put on the WHO web site.
44. The Committee appreciated the activities of FAO and WHO and expected further efforts of both organizations to improve the safety and quality of foods in the Region.
Cambodia
45. The present activities in food control focus mainly on the inspection, monitoring and sampling of the domestic foods on the market place and of the imported foods at the entry points. We based the above activities on risk-focused inspection and control (type of foods, form and condition of processing). More stringent measure on the implementation of the labelling requirements on prepacked food from all origin has been taken. More quality assurance measures have been taken in food processing premises, in food trade and by all people who handle and deal with food. Such measures include, for instance, proper training of personnel in areas as hygiene, appropriate cleaning and disinfection schedules as well as identifying those points in a process that are particularly critical for the safety of the food products.
46. The stage of applying the HACCP procedure and the Risk Assessment is still very far from being reached. Beside its strong will and interest to address the many challenges it is facing by actually channeling its scarce financial resources to strengthening this area. Cambodia modestly appeals to all donors for very needed technical and financial assistance to strengthen the efficiency and competency of its food control system.
China[16]
47. The Delegation of China informed the Committee that the Food Hygiene Law of the People’s Republic of China was adopted in 1995, which replaced the Provisional Food Hygiene Law of 1982. A number of regulations have been issued since then to match with the law, such as the Regulation for Hygienic Control of Irradiated Food and the Regulation for Control of Health Food issued in 1996 by the Ministry of Health. The National Codex Committee has been re-organized and it’s working rules updated. A Codex Newsletter in Chinese on activities related to Codex has been issued and circulated since last year. A series of training, education and promotion programmes on food safety issue have been organized.
48. In order to meet Codex standards for agrifoods, the “Innovation project for Agriculture Standardization” has been founded in 1999, it focuses on improving the standards level of the quality and safety aspects for popular agrifoods.
49. In addition, some training courses on HACCP and quality control have been held in the last two years. More and more food enterprises realized the importance of HACCP and quality control in their food production. More than 1,000 food enterprises have established HACCP quality control system, and up to now 342 food enterprises passed HACCP audit by Chinese Government.
Indonesia
50. So far Indonesia has successfully established law/government regulation related to food control and food safety as follows: Food Law No. 7/1996 (notified to the WTO); Consumer Protection Law No. 8/1999 (into force on April 20, 2000); Government Regulation No. 69/1999 on Food Labelling and Advertisement (effected for implementation on 21 July 2000); Technical Regulation on Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) and Other Contaminant No. 881/1996 (notified WTO); Technical Regulation on GMO for Food (Transgenic food)(still in process; will be completed during this month); a training course for awareness building in food safety and hygiene convened in cooperation with WHO/FAO and the elaboration on a “Master Plan for Food Control and Pilot Management Information System in Food Safety”; Government Regulation on Food Safety, Food Quality and Food Security as detailed description on Food Law mentioned (to be finalized soon).
51. In order to get better results in the acceptance of standards, guidelines and recommendations, recently Indonesia has successfully restructured its National Codex Committee. Through this new committee, better coordination among national institutions related to food safety would be achieved. Better coordination will make easier to formulate food control and food safety and its implementation.
Japan[17]
52. The Delegation of Japan reported the current situations of the safety of agricultural products around the JCO Uranium processing plant that caused a nuclear accident in 30 September 1999. Japan also reported the recent results of total diet study that showed the total intake of dioxin from common diet (=2.0 pg TEQ/kg body weight) being below the level of TDI[18] (=4 pg TEQ/kg bw). The 20 years' trends in dioxins intake estimated from the deposited samples show a dramatically decreasing tendency. The HACCP in Japan was introduced to the national legislation in 1995 by amendment of the Food Sanitation Law. To promote implementation of HACCP in manufacturers of the relevant foods, Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has held training courses for the local government officials to enable them to make effective advice to the manufacturers for the implementation of HACCP.
53. The national guideline for evaluation of the safety of GM[19] foods was already established mostly based on the WHO/OECD guideline. Until now 22 GM foods have been judged to be safe according to the guideline. Although the applications for the food safety evaluation of GM foods are now just on a voluntary basis, the MOHW requested the Foods Safety Investigation Council to start discussing necessity of some legal obligation for this matters.
54. The Delegation of Japan also presented the labelling system on GMOs which was decided in August 1999. The system will be introduced in April 2000 with one year grace period until April 2001. The primary purpose of the labelling is to provide consumers the necessary information under the provision that the GMOs currently consumed have been assessed as safe. The Delegation also provided the classification of foods subject to labelling requirement based on the document circulated at the session.
Korea, Republic of[20]
55. The Republic of Korea has carried out the monitoring on contaminants (residues of pesticides and veterinary drugs, heavy metals, nitrate, etc.) in or on food commodities and raw products since 1980s, which has been used as an important tool for monitoring our food safety. Based on these monitoring results and the establishment of Korean maximum residue limits, we could estimate the risk that may be posed to the public health and elaborate regulations and precautionary control measures to protect the consumer and producer, if necessary.
Malaysia
56. In Malaysia, continuous efforts are being undertaken to strengthen the Food Quality Control Programme. Food handlers training is conducted on a privatisation basis and is accredited by the Ministry of Health. Currently, there are 54 Food Handler’s Training Institutes. During the 16th Commonwealth Games held for the first time in Malaysia in September, 1998, the Ministry of Health was assigned with the challenging task to ensure the safety of food served by 7,978 food premises at six different Games venues. The contract to prepare and serve food to the athletes and Games officials was awarded to MAS Flight Kitchen with the specific requirement that HACCP be implemented. Training for all food handlers in the Games Village was made mandatory. Overall, a high quality control was maintained for food production, storage, transportation and serving. With the implementation of HACCP and stringent quality control measures, not a single food poisoning incidence was reported. For the export of fish and fish products to the EC and USA, HACCP certification is mandatory and is issued by the Ministry of Health as the competent authority. At the same time, the Ministry of Health is promoting HACCP amongst the food industries. A National HACCP Certification Scheme has been formulated. To ensure the effectiveness of the Scheme, a National Committee on HACCP has been established comprising of experts from the public and private sectors, the academia and relevant professional bodies.
57. In 1998, Codex work at the national level was further strengthened through the establishment of 16 National Codex Sub-Committees and a Codex Working Group on Food Biotechnology. Recently, the membership of the National Codex Committee was extended to include the professional bodies in addition to the public and private sectors, the consumers, the industry and academia.
Nepal
58. The dairy industries have been selected for the application of “Code of Practice” (integrated GMP-HACCP) so as to supply “coliform-free pasteurized milk.” Industries complying with satisfactory results are awarded “Letter of Recognition” for their performance. Consumer groups are involved in formulation of standards. Food law and regulations are being updated in line with Codex standards as well as the WTO’s SPS/TBT requirements. Cooperation and support of FAO/WHO/WTO is earnestly expected for strengthening Food Analytical Quality Assurance System, specially in human resource development in HACCP & Risk Analysis.
Singapore
59. Singapore places great importance on a proactive food safety surveillance program, covering all imported and locally manufactured food. The food industry in Singapore is required to adopt high standards of food hygiene and safety and encouraged to adopt the HACCP system and to automate where possible. Singapore’s food laws and regulations are at present being reviewed to make them current and relevant, with consideration given to Codex’s guidelines, standards and codes of practices.
Thailand[21]
60. Food control mechanisms are reviewed by concerned organizations and modified to international standard, for instance: the implementation of risk analysis, empowerment of technical competence for law enforcement, enhancing on Mutual Rrecognition Agreements, including harmonization of import-export and quarantine control for safe food production to ensure hygienic condition along the food chain. Several activities have been carried out, such as the adoption of Codex guidelines and codes of practice, issuing a new regulation, cooperation with trading partners.
Australia
61. The delegate from Australia referred to an information paper made available to members, outlining several developments of interest to the meeting. These developments included the Review of the Food Standards Code, Percentage Labelling, Mandatory Nutrition Labelling and Implementation of HACCP. In particular, he elaborated on the contentious issue of labelling of genetically modified foods which had been decided by Ministers. It was noted that at its meeting on 22 October 1999, Ministers agreed to delay final acceptance of the labelling proposed pending further public consultation and additional information on implementation and costs.
62. The delegate also informed of a number of regional activities including two APEC projects - the two workshops in the Food/Drug Interface and the two 3-week residential training course in the application of risk analysis to be conducted early in 2000.
European Community (EC)
63. The Observers from the EC referred to the re-structuring of the Commission services and the priority given to food safety by the new Commission president, Mr. Prodi. The Commission is conducting a wide ranging review of community legislation on food safety and expects to issue a policy paper on the subject in mid-December. Codex Members and Observer organizations are encouraged to comment on this paper.
64. Further information, including the texts of EC legislation, the scientific reports and risk assessments on which EC legislation is based and the reports of inspections made by the Commission Food and Veterinary Office, can be found on the European Union web site at: www.europa.eu.int/
International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI)
65. ILSI, as a global scientific organization, has been contributing to develop/improve scientific knowledge and understanding on scientific issues in food safety, nutrition, health and environment. As a partner to FAO/WHO, ILSI has been co-sponsored several seminars, workshops, symposia and conferences in Asia regarding food safety, risk analysis, micronutrients, healthy aging, biotechnology, dietary guidelines, etc.. ILSI expressed its willingness to continue the activities in cooperation to FAO/WHO.
66. The Committee agreed that:
- All Asian countries should implement Codex recommendations throughout the food chain to improve food safety control.- Member countries should improve their mechanisms for food safety control and harmonize them with the international standards and codes and recognize mutual recognition agreements with trading partners.
- The Codex Alimentarius Commission should expedite the development of guidance on good agricultural practices, especially for those aspects not covered by other international organizations, so that Member countries can use it in producing safe and good quality primary products.
