Taiwan to boost food safety budget by 50%

Accelerating global trade and cross-border travel has made food safety problems a global concern. In Taiwan, a string of stomach-churning food safety scandals over the past few years have not only dampened consumer confidence in the whole industry and but also ruined Taiwan's reputation as a food capital of the world. With that, a food safety summit kicks off from Tuesday and food safety key opinion leaders in both the public and private sectors from around the world convene in Taipei to exchange views about food safety and related issues.

Democratic Progressive Party legislator and public health specialist Wu Kuen-yuh, the National Taiwan University and the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy have jointly organized the event, which is being attended by hundreds of food safety officials, experts, and outstanding food manufacturers from the European Union, Germany, the United States, New Zealand, Japan, and other Asian countries.

Among the speakers, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Executive Director Bernhard Url has drawn the most attention as it was the first visit of an Executive Director from EFSA, which is the responsible authority for EU risk assessment for food and feed safety.

Given that weight and importance of the summit, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen also attended the event and spoke of the Taiwan government's plans to strengthen food safety, such as boosting the food safety budget by 50 percent in 2017, establishing an independent Food Safety Council and a Toxicology and Chemical Substances Bureau apart from the existing Cabinet-level Office of Food Safety, a taskforce under the Council of Agriculture in charge of supervising national school lunch production, simplifying food safety certifications, and harmonizing international food safety and quality standards, and initiating more dialogue among stakeholders.

Tsai said that the food safety-related legislation and risk assessments will be based on scientific evidence and be in line with international standards to rebuild a care-free environment for consumers and develop a food system based on health, trust, and sustainability.

To reach that end, Tsai added, it requires transparency in the supply chain network, effective communication among stakeholder groups, and involvement of the government departments from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Council of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Administration, and Ministry of Economic Affairs.

On the first day of the summit, EFSA Executive Director Bernhard Url talked about the food safety system in Europe, the role of EFSA, and its future challenges. Dr. Url agrees that a joint effort at either regional or international level should be made to ensure a sustainable and consistent food safety policy.

Coined as "Taiwan's role model in food safety," I-Mei Foods Co., Ltd. has been invited to share its experience in food safety management at the summit. Company CEO Luis Ko is scheduled to deliver a speech on food safety on August 31, day 2 of the three-day event, at the College of Public Health, National Taiwan University.

Source: Taiwan to boost food safety budget by 50%