This document is intended to provide guidance to inform the selection of the most appropriate methods to generate data on Vibrio spp. in seafood. It considers the range of potential methods from culture based to molecular, and proposes the use of performance charac-teristics to select the most appropriate method according to the potential end use of the data generated, for example, harvest area monitoring, post-harvest process verification, end product monitoring, and outbreak investigation. Aspects of data requirements that could support national and regional risk assessments are also addressed.

Worldwide, food safety incidents can have a significant impact on public health, economies, agrifood trade, food security, and public confidence in the food supply. The prevention, mitigation, and management of food safety incidents globally can be enhanced through more effective early warning systems for food safety. Early warning systems help countries to better anticipate food safety threats and respond quicker through appropriate risk management actions. This publication provides a resource for countries to enhance their early warning capabilities and capacities. It emphasizes the need to build and connect links between existing food safety infrastructure (e.g. surveillance and food control) and to improve collaborative relationships among all of the different food chain stakeholders in order to protect public health and the...

This FAO manual on Risk based imported food control aims to support competent authorities in improving the effectiveness of the control measures they are overseeing, based on an analysis of their specific country situation. It discusses the different types of approach to managing risks related to imported food, and provides concrete illustrations of how Codex guidelines can be implemented in different ways. While respecting the principles, guidance and objectives agreed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, different options for control measures can be selected and combined to implement a coherent set of import controls to best fit the needs of each country. Different examples, as implemented by a number of countries, are provided to show that there are often several options...

On 2 June 2015, a side event to the 8th session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for the Near East (CCNE) entitled "FAO GM Foods Platform: benefits for the CCNE countries" was organized at the FAO headquarters (HQ) in Rome, Italy. The final agenda is attached as Annex 1. A total of 31 delegates from Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Tunisia attended the side event. The list of participants is attached as Annex 2. The side event organization was facilitated by Masami Takeuchi (FAO) and Kosuke Shiraishi (Intern, FAO)

Dr Fire spoke about how RNAi was discovered. Starting from the first unexpected observations that exogenous RNA fragments can inhibit the expression of complementary genes in Fungi, Plants, and Caenorhabditis elegans, Dr Fire elaborated on how the underlying molecular processes of this process were subsequently further unraveled. In the second part of his presentation Dr Fire specifically addressed the potential applications of RNAi in the food and agricultural sector.