About the Food Safety and Risk Assessment Task Force

Ensuring the safety of the food in the global marketplace poses great challenges as countries have established their own unique national food safety standards. The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (The SPS Agreement), concurred by the members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), calls on countries to harmonize their national standards based on the Codex Standards as the reference point for the safety of foods traded internationally. Deviations from Codex need to be justified on the basis of sound science, utilizing the accepted principles of risk and exposure assessment.

In light of the above, there is a need for harmonization of national food safety standards towards Codex across the Southeast Asia and Australasia Regions. Within ASEAN, it is recognized that the lack of data on food consumption hinders the ability to generate country or region specific risk and exposure assessment.

To disseminate updated scientific information, enhance better understanding of the principles of risk assessment among the ASEAN countries and set the basis for harmonization, ILSI Southeast Asia Region has organised several chemical and microbial risk assessment workshops between 1996 and 2002. The Task Force will also extend its focus to adopt broader perspectives on food and nutrition safety, including the safety of nutrients and non-nutrients added to foods, exposure assessment of fortified foods, migration issues and concerns from food packaging, and water quality and safety. Collaborative efforts in exposure assessment data development and its impact on food and nutrition safety will be discussed in the future.

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