"Responding to Food Safety Emergencies with Asian Countries" MFDS Hosts International Conference

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 6th that it held the 9th Asia INFOSAN International Meeting with the World Health Organization (WHO) to jointly respond to food safety emergencies with Asian countries.

Asia InfoSan International Conference

The meeting, held on the 5th and 6th (local time) at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, was attended by over 40 international organization officials from major Asian INFOSAN participating countries such as Korea, China, the Philippines, and India, as well as the WHO INFOSAN Secretariat and FAO.

INFOSAN is an international consultative body established in 2004 by WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to exchange information and prevent the spread of hazardous foods during international food safety emergencies. Since 2011, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has organized and operated the Asia INFOSAN to promote food safety cooperation among countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

At this meeting, participants shared this year’s INFOSAN activities, including response efforts to food safety incidents and cases of strengthened food safety management, and discussed ways to enhance communication for establishing a rapid crisis response system.

In the keynote speech, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety introduced Korea’s food safety management system, including the Asia-Pacific Food Regulatory Authorities Summit (AFRAS) and the digital document review system for imported foods, 'Electronic Review 24'. A simulation exercise was also conducted to assess each country’s crisis response system in the event of hazardous food occurrences.

Additionally, the Ministry stated that it plans to discuss with officials from the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) to access detailed information on hazardous foods shared with European member countries.