Public consultation on the Draft WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety

Background

In 2020, a resolution titled ‘‘Strengthening efforts on food safety’’ was adopted by the Seventy-third World Health Assembly. In the resolution, Member States requested WHO to update the WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety to address current and emerging challenges, incorporate new technologies and include innovative approaches for strengthening food safety systems. There was a recognition that the food safety systems of many Member States are under challenge and need significant improvements in their key components, such as regulatory infrastructure, enforcement, surveillance, inspection and laboratory capacity and capability, coordination mechanisms, emergency response and food safety education and training. Member States also recognized the need to integrate food safety into national and regional policies on health, agriculture, trade, environment and development and a One Health approach should be applied to ensure food safety.

In response to this request, WHO Secretariat has prepared a draft WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety with the advice of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on Food Safety: Safer food for better health.  Two technical meetings were held virtually in February and April 2021 with the TAG experts to inform this first draft.

The draft strategy shall serve as a blueprint and guidance for Member States to strengthen their national food safety systems and promote regional and global cooperation. In the meantime, acknowledging food safety is a shared responsibility, the targeted audience of the strategy should also include consumers, food business operators, academia and researchers, civil societies, and other international organizations. 

Purpose of the public consultation 

Consistent with its universal, transparent and inclusive spirit, WHO is launching a public consultation to reach government officials, civil society organizations, international organizations, research institutions, and interested citizens and stakeholders from all over the world to ensure that content of the strategy reflects the experience, needs and aspirations of the international community. Inputs collected during the public consultation will be taken into account in the revision of the strategy. 

Publication of contributions

All comments will be considered public and may be published unless requested otherwise. It should be noted that comments submitted by individuals in a personal capacity may be published as such, indicating the contributor’s first and family name, unless a substantial justification for protection is provided by the respondent. Comments submitted on behalf of an organization may also be made publicly available.

General Guidance on providing comments

All comments related to the draft WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety shall be submitted through the online platform. The public consultation ends on 16 July 2021, 23:59, CEST

Please noted that comments will not be considered if they:

• are submitted after the closing date of the consultation;
• are presented in any form other than what is provided for in the online platform; and
• are not related to the contents of the document.

Please ensure that your feedback is high level, action-orientated, accurate, feasible and related to the content of the draft strategy.  

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