FAO/WHO Regional Conference on Food Safety expected to adopt a Food Safety Action Plan for Africa

A first for Africa : FAO/WHO Regional Conference on Food Safety expected to adopt a Food Safety Action Plan for Africa, 3 – 6 October 2005

28 September 2005

WHO: Forty-seven African countries, seven international organizations and more than 170 delegates, including several ministers, are already registered for the FAO/WHO Regional Conference on Food Safety for Africa 3-6 October 2005, with more participants likely to attend. They are expected to endorse the first-ever Food Safety Action Plan for Africa, which will protect consumers’ health and develop stable food trade relations for the region.

WHY: Every year, food and waterborne diseases are estimated to cause some 700 000 deaths in Africa - one third of the global deaths from food illnesses. The severity of this problem is evident when compared to the death toll from malaria, a major killer disease which accounts for more than one million deaths worldwide, most of these in Africa. Also, poor safety controls are estimated to cause huge economic losses for several African countries. For example, failure to meet a 2001 European Union (EU ) food standard due to lack of safety controls was estimated to have resulted in a decrease in the value of African exports of cereals, dried fruits and nuts to the EU by 64 percent or US$670 million.

WHAT: With the adoption of a tailored action plan, the FAO/WHO Regional Conference on Food Safety for Africa is responding to Africa’s need to take into account the region’s unique problems. The Conference is part of a series of regional meetings on food safety that FAO and WHO are convening in response to requests from member countries for policy advice and capacity building in food safety management.

The FAO/WHO African Regional Conference will work to:

Address emerging food safety issues important to all countries in the African Region;
Improve international and regional cooperation in promoting food safety;
Strengthen national capacity for surveillance and monitoring; and
Facilitate exchange of knowledge and experience across the Region by identifying and promoting good practice.

WHEN: 3 to 6 October 2005.

WHERE: Harare International Conference Center in Harare, Zimbabwe.

NOTE TO EDITORS AND CORRESPONDENTS:

A news briefing will take place on the 3rd October at 10 a.m. at the conference venue. A valid press card will be required. An official letter of designation on the letter-head of a recognized media organization signed by an editor will also be accepted.

Correspondents who are not resident in Zimbabwe and wish to cover the Food Safety Conference are required by the Government of Zimbabwe to submit the following information to FAO/WHO (contacts below) by Tuesday 27th September so that the organizers of the conference may request entry visas:

Name, ID and/or passport numbers
Address
Media organization represented
The exact purpose of attending the Conference and the media in which stories will appear (Newspapers, magazines, TV, etc.)
Duration of stay in the country
Country of origin