Date: 8 - 10 February 2021
Time: 12:00 - 15:00 CET
Background
The World Health Organization (WHO) has an unwavering commitment to reducing the social burden of foodborne illness on global health. Building on the World Health Assembly Resolution WHA53.15 (May 2000), WHO published its Global Strategy for Food Safety: safer food for better health, which was endorsed by the Executive Board in 2002. The strategy, developed in close collaboration with food safety experts around the world, mainly focused on a global risk-based approach to food safety, global surveillance of foodborne illnesses, uptake of international food safety standards set by Codex, safety assessment of new technologies, risk communication, international cooperation, and capacity building.
In pursuit of continuous improvement in food safety, in February 2019 in Addis Ababa, WHO was a partner in the First FAO/WHO/AU International Food Safety Conference. A key aim was to identify food safety priorities, align strategies across sectors and borders, reinforce efforts to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and support the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition.
Later in Geneva, in April 2019, the WTO International Forum on Food Safety and Trade met and continued the discussions from the Addis Ababa Conference, addressing the trade related aspects and challenges of food safety such as use of new technologies, multi-stakeholder co-ordination and harmonising regulation in a time of change and innovation.
These two conferences helped inform the 73rd World Health Assembly Resolution “Strengthening efforts on food safety” (WHA73.5) that was endorsed by Member States in July 2020.
Resolution WHA73.5 inter alia called on the Director General of WHO to update, in coordination with FAO, and in consultation with Member States and OIE, the WHO global strategy for food safety in order to address current and emerging challenges, incorporate new technologies and include innovative strategies for strengthening food safety systems. Resolution WHA73.5 also called upon Member States to remain committed at the highest political level to
- recognize food safety as an essential element of public health;
- develop food safety policies that take into consideration all stages of the supply chain, the best available scientific evidence and advice, as well as innovation;
- provide adequate resources to improve food safety systems;
- recognize consumer interests; and
- integrate food safety into national and regional policies on health, agriculture, trade, environment and development.
Based on the needs for updating the 2002 Global Strategy for Food Safety, WHO established a new Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on Food Safety: safer food for better health. One of the key functions of the TAG is to advise WHO on updating the Global Strategy for Food Safety and any other matters (implementation, monitoring and evaluation) relating to the Strategy. The 1st TAG meeting will be convened virtually from 8-10 February 2021 to discuss the update of the WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety.
Scope of the technical advisory group consultation
The new global strategy has a core focus on strengthening national food safety systems/food control systems by considering all components and prioritising specific actions that are likely to have the greatest impact on reducing the burden of foodborne illnesses.
The following five strategic priorities will be considered as the scope of this expert consultation:
- Strengthening National Food Control System: The scope is different components of the national food safety control system, including but not limited to regulatory infrastructure, enforcement, surveillance, inspection and laboratory capacity and capability, coordination mechanisms, emergency response and food safety education and training.
- Identifying and responding to food safety challenges resulting from global changes in food systems: As public health is one of the key outcomes from food systems, the scope is the identification and response to various existing and newly emerging food safety challenges resulting from the global changes in food systems with risk-based surveillance and appropriate incidence response systems, including but not limited to foodborne AMR, climate change, food fraud, and the usage of new food technologies.
- Increasing the use of food chain information, scientific evidence and risk assessment in making risk management decisions that strengthen food control systems: Data and science is the basis for any risk management options. The scope is the utilization of food chain information, scientific evidence and risk assessment to the greatest extent practicable in making risk management decisions and allocating resources.
- Sharing responsibility for food safety: Multisectoral approach is the key to improving food safety. The scope is on the general acceptance amongst all stakeholders of their individual and collective responsibility for food safety, including risk communication and stakeholder engagement.
- Food safety as a driver of the economics of domestic food production and international trade: Food is a commodity for trade and food safety is a critical enabler to the success of international trade. Unsafe food simply cannot be traded and is unsuitable for consumption. The scope will have to necessarily include food safety in domestic markets and international trade.
Objective of the technical advisory group consultation
The objective of this expert consultation is to collect experts’ advice on the updating of the WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety
Specific objectives are to:
- Build upon the understanding of 2002 WHO Global Food Safety Strategy and the WHA73.5 resolution to identify drivers of change in food safety
- Agree on the overall vision, aim, and timeframe for the updated strategy
- Identify new strategic priorities, strategic objectives, and recommended actions for the updated strategy
- Discuss the implementation framework and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for the updated strategy
Expected outputs:
- A meeting report prepared by the WHO Secretariat
- Draft 1 of the WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety ready for web-based public consultation
Attendance to this meeting is reserved for members of the technical advisory group and invited observers.
Highlights of the 1st TAG meeting:
Five Strategic Priorities (SPs) were identified for further discussion:
SP1: Strengthening national food control systems
SP2: Identifying and responding to food safety challenges resulting from global changes and transformations in food systems
SP3: Increasing the use of food chain information, scientific evidence, and risk assessment in making risk management decisions
SP4: Strengthening stakeholder engagement and risk communication
SP5: Promoting food safety as an essential component in domestic and international food trade