Meeting proceedings: Regional consultation on food safety indicators for Asia and the Pacific
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Developing a set of regional food safety indicators with the overall goal of strengthening national food control systems has been a key topic at various regional food safety meetings in Asia and the Pacific, and Members of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in the region often request FAO to initiate dialogues on the topic. In order to address the need, FAO held a regional consultation on food safety indicators from 6 to 8 December 2017 in Singapore, with the primary objective for national food safety competent authorities to review various existing food safety indicators in the context of their national situations, particularly in developing countries.
The consultation welcomed 84 participants, including senior officials working in the area of food safety (from 18 Asian and 6 Pacific Island countries), speakers, observers and meeting secretariat members. Participants were provided with an FAO technical working paper that described the preliminary review process and identified existing indicators prior to the meeting. The paper was used as the basis for all discussions during the consultation.
Through various presentations, panel discussions and working group sessions, all participants confirmed the need for, and importance of, having measurable and actionable food safety indicators, and critically reviewed all existing food safety indicators summarized in the technical working paper. Using a set of criteria, participants developed a draft set of regional food safety indicators that national food safety competent authorities could use to develop their own national food safety indicators. Participants also engaged in active discussions on useful applications of national food safety indicators.
Participants suggested that FAO develop a technical tool that can be used as a guide for competent authorities to define their own national food safety indicators. The tool is planned to be piloted in several countries in the region to verify the usefulness of the 1) guidance tool, and 2) applications that the national food safety indicators are aimed at.