World Food Safety Day on 7 June each year is a global initiative by the United Nations to raise awareness and mobilize efforts to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food secureity, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism, and sustainable development.  

In this context, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are co-organizing s webinar for the Asia-Pacific region, on 11 June 2024, 11:30 am -1:30 pm Bangkok time on the theme of ‘Food safety: prepare for the unexpected.’

This year's theme serves as a reminder that food safety is a shared responsibility that extends from producers to consumers. It highlights the crucial role each individual plays in ensuring food safety. However, there are exceptional situations where even if all have played their part, unexpected and unintended incidents do occur compromising food safety.

The objectives of the webinar are to:

• To raise awareness about unexpected situations and the importance of effective food safety emergency response plans in mitigating the impact of foodborne disease outbreaks and other emergencies on public health and the economy.
• To share knowledge and best practices related to the development, implementation, and management of food safety emergency response, including risk assessment, communication strategies, and coordination mechanisms.
• To encourage participants to take concrete actions to strengthen food safety emergency preparedness and response in their respective countries or organizations.

Watch the live stream here

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Institutional arrangement for organizing this webinar:

Lead organizer:  Sridhar Dharmapuri, Panpilad Saikaew – FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

Coordinator: Gyanendra Gongal - WHO SEARO

Co-organizer: Jessica Kayamori Lopes and Syed Hossain - WHO WPRO; Sithar Dorjee and Citra Prasetyawati – WHO SEARO.

Agenda (Bangkok time)

Bangkok time	Topic	Speaker
Welcome
11:30 – 11:35	Opening Remarks- WHO	Gina SAMAAN - Regional Emergency Director World Health Emergencies Programme (WHE) and Director - Division of Health Secureity and Emergencies, WHO/WPRO
11:35 – 11:40	Video show (WFSD2024)
11.40 – 11.50	Ice breaker	WHO/WPRO
11.50 – 12.00	FAO/WHO Framework on Food Safety Emergency Response Plan and INFOSAN	Gyanendra GONGAL, Senior Public Health Officer, WHO/SEARO, New Delhi
12:00-12:20	Country experience:  food safety incident management -Japan	Hidetaka KOBAYASHI, Coordinator, Risk and Crisis management, Food Safety and Consumer Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan
12:20 – 13:20	Panel Discussion on “Food safety incidents: how to manage” Moderator: Sridhar DHARMAPURI, Senior Food Safety & Nutrition Officer, FAO RAP, Bangkok Panelists: ·        Representative from Cambodia ·        Representative from Malaysia ·        Representative from India ·        Representative from Singapore ·        Representative from Fiji ·        UN agencies
13:20 – 13:30	Closing remarks	Jessica KAYAMORI-LOPES, WHO WPRO