Nutrition

Food Safety. On April 24, the International Conference on Trade and Food Safety of the World Trade Organization (WTO) came to a close in Geneva. Among other things the event focused on the role of technological progress in maintaining food security and reaching public health objectives and on how to facilitate international trade without undermining food safety. The debate on this will continue in July at the meeting of the WTO Commission on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures in Geneva.

The meeting brought to the fore the challenges faced by governments in promoting healthy eating. Roberto Azevedo, Director General of the WTO, referred at the opening of the event to the part played by technology in advancing on food safety. “We must take advantage of the opportunities offered by technological progress to maintain our food safety and public health objectives,” said Azevedo, adding: “New technologies help collect and analyze data to manage food safety risks”.

Experts at the conference agreed that e-certification “can be more reliable and efficient than paper-based systems, thereby reducing costs and facilitating trade”. WTO Deputy Director-General Alan Wolff praised the meeting’s “forward-looking” approach to new technologies, trade facilitation and standardized regulation, and their influence over food safety. “Food safety is a shared responsibility, and forging strong public-private partnerships is essential,” he said.

Next Steps

On the role of international trade, the importance of reducing unnecessary bureaucracy, reducing trade costs and facilitating trade was highlighted. However, Wolff noted that “trade facilitation should never be detrimental to food safety”.