Prime Minister Han Duck-soo (fourth from left) and Minister of Food and Drug Safety Oh Yu-Kyoung (fifth from left) on May 13 pose for photos with other participants in the opening ceremony of the Asia-Pacific Food Regulatory Authority Summit at the hotel Westin Josun Seoul in Seoul’s Jung-gu District.
By Lee Kyoung Mi
Photos = Jeon Han
Video = Lee Jun Young and Park Dae Jin
With food security rising as a major global issue, an international summit in Seoul has discussed related issues and the global food environment.
The Asia-Pacific Food Regulatory Authority Summit (APFRAS) 2024 ran from May 13-14 at the hotel Westin Josun Seoul in Seoul’s Jung-gu District.
Launched in May last year by the national food regulatory bodies of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, the Philippines, China and Singapore under the lead of the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, APFRAS has as its goal solidarity and joint responses to changes in the international food environment by members and to contribute to safe food imports and exports.
Indonesia, Chile, Thailand, the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations joined the seven charter members at the meeting, which Korea hosted for the second time since being elected the organization’s first chair.
Under the theme “New Pathways for Food Safety Innovation in the Asia-Pacific,” the summit had the chief regulator from each country and staff from global organizations analyze the fast-changing global environment for food regulation and discuss collaboration in emerging food safety issues.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on May 13 delivers the welcoming speech at the opening ceremony of APFRAS 2024 at the hotel Westin Josun Seoul in Seoul’s Jung-gu District.
“Like in the past, today’s food environment is borderless,” Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said in his welcoming speech at the opening ceremony on May 13. “The global food market is facing crises and challenges due to environmental shifts such as the climate crisis and reorganization of global supply chains.”
Stressing that inter-country solidarity and cooperation are crucial in times like these, he pledged Korea’s role in improving food safety. “Korea will share its experience in digitally-based administration including food safety data from QR (quick response) codes and an e-screening system for imported food,” he added.
After the ceremony, the national regulatory chiefs in a conference presented their respective countries’ food safety policies and status and their willingness to collaborate through APFRAS. The figures included Diego Varela, executive secretary of the Chilean Food Safety and Quality Agency; Wang Tie Han, chief inspector of food safety at China’s State Administration for Market Supervision; and Lucia Rizka Andalusia, director general for pharmaceutical and medical devices at the Indonesian Ministry of Health.
At a closed-door meeting on May 14, participants discussed building a database on regulating food safety and doing reports analyzing the global food regulatory environment.
km137426@korea.kr
