Niek Schelling is Food Quality and Safety Officer in the FAO Food and Nutrition Division
Concerns over food safety and quality are increasing worldwide. They are priority issues for governments, food producers, industry, traders and consumers alike. The burden of food-borne disease is significant in all parts of the world; for some important food-borne hazards, the reported incidence of disease has increased over the last decades. In the European region, some food safety and quality problems in recent years have endangered consumers' health. This situation has caused a deterioration of consumer confidence with respect to some aspects of food supply, and has also negatively affected the situation of European farmers and food producers. The result has been that member countries feel a need to strengthen their food safety and quality systems in a sustainable way. Members are eager to reduce the level of food-borne disease, to restore the confidence of consumers and to improve the conditions of food production and trade within Europe and beyond.
The initiative to hold a Pan-European Conference on Food Safety and Quality originated at the 22nd FAO Regional Conference for Europe, held in Porto, Portugal, from 24 to 28 July 2000. On that occasion, the Minister of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries of the Netherlands, Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, proposed a Pan-European Food Safety Initiative to strengthen and harmonize food-safety policies across Europe. This initiative was endorsed and FAO was requested to organize, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), the first Pan-European Conference.
After two preparatory meetings with the European member countries of FAO and WHO, it was decided that the Pan-European Conference would be convened to identify and discuss food safety and quality issues of specific importance to the European region. The conference would provide possible solutions to improve food safety and quality conditions across Europe. The following guidelines were identified as potential contributions for food safety and quality improvements in Europe:
It was generally acknowledged that in order to improve food safety and quality, the whole food chain should be taken into consideration, from the primary producer to the consumer. The Conference Preparatory Meeting agreed that the two main themes to be addressed should be:
Several member countries and organizations contributed background papers to inform and facilitate discussion at the conference. Some of these papers dealt with specific food safety and quality items, and others highlighted food safety situations and concerns in a number of European countries. The papers also provided suggestions for improvements in the food production chain for discussion by the conference participants. The following background papers were presented:
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Over 200 participants from 46 member countries of FAO and WHO, the European Commission and more than 20 international organizations attended the four-day Pan-European Conference in Budapest, Hungary, held from 25 to 28 February 2002. During the opening ceremony led by the Hungarian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, His Excellency András Vonza, FAO and WHO highlighted the importance of availability of safe food and the necessity to protect consumers' health.
In his keynote address, the Minister of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries of the Netherlands, His Excellency Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, mentioned the impact of the enlargement of the EU on food trade and stressed the importance of improving food safety controls. He emphasized the importance for members of harmonizing food safety and quality regulations with international standards while preserving food and diet diversity.
Four days of discussion in plenary sessions and working-group meetings took place with lively and constructive contributions from all participants. Background papers and suggestions were thoroughly discussed, and ideas were developed to enhance European cooperation in policy and scientific development and to improve communication and transparency. At the end of the conference, a report was provided with recommendations to improve food safety and quality conditions in the European region.
The conference provided a number of main recommendations for political consideration at the regional conferences of FAO and WHO in 2002. A list of technical recommendations was also presented to give guidance to processes of food safety and quality improvement.
In the first place, it was recommended that European countries should work together to reduce food safety risks and the incidence of food-borne diseases. Many member countries must modernize their legislation and adjust it to inter-national standards such as the Codex Alimentarius. It was firmly advised that all stakeholders in the food chain, including primary producers, control organizations and consumers, should take full responsibility for implementing food safety improvements. Likewise transparency and effectiveness of safe food production and control systems need to be reinforced. Furthermore, communication with consumers about food safety risks should be improved and expanded.
All stakeholders in the food production chain have to invest in food safety and control to regain the consumer confidence. So not only governmental organizations, but also farmers, feed manufacturers, the food industry and traders must be aware of their responsibilities to provide healthy food
Other recommendations focused on improvement of risk control and surveillance systems through capacity building and training. Cooperation in risk assessment and food safety research is a necessary tool for achieving progress. Participation in commonly operated emergency detection and response systems will reduce food safety risks and improve conditions for trade.
The Ministerial Round Table, held during the 23rd FAO Regional Conference for Europe, endorsed the recommendations of the Pan-European Conference and requested all member countries and stakeholders in the food chain to begin implementing them. The regional conference highlighted the need for intra-regional cooperation in food safety matters and the need to preserve food diversity throughout Europe.
The regional conference took further note of the importance of food safety in the enlargement process of the EU and of the call for FAO and WHO to play an enhanced role in assisting countries that are not part of the enlargement process. It was highlighted that the levels of food safety and quality in the European region still needed to be improved, and measures should be found to gain consumer confidence and ensure consumer protection. A follow-up to the Pan-European Conference recommendations was called for, covering the 22 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and targeted at methodologies for risk analysis, capacity building and rapid alert.
The issues of food safety and quality were proposed as major items on the agenda of the 24th FAO Regional Conference for Europe to be held in 2004. These items could be technically prepared within the framework of the 33rd Session of the European Commission on Agriculture to be held in early 2004. Both events could be utilized to evaluate follow-up activities of the Pan-European Conference recommendations and to set new priorities to support food safety and quality in Europe.
Further information and recent developments on Pan-European Conference issues can be found on the Web site of the Conference: www.foodsafetyforum.org /paneuropean/
