WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/838 
2 April 2008 
 
 (08-1457) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
REPORT ON HIGH-LEVEL INTERNATIONAL FOOD SAFETY FORUM 
 
Submission by China and the World Health Organization (WHO)
 
  
 The following communication, received on 31 Marc h 2008, is being circulated at the request 
of the Delegation of China and the WHO.  
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1. The "High-level International Food Safety Fo rum" was jointly organized by the General 
Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection a nd Quarantine (AQSIQ), the Ministry of Health of 
the People's Republic of China (MOH) and the Worl d Health Organization (WHO) with the theme of 
"Enhancing Food Safety in a Global Community".  The Forum was held in Beijing, China on 26 and 
27, November 2007, and aimed to (1) provide an opportunity for many countries to discuss the public health, economic and social significance of f oodborne illnesses and food contamination and to 
identify how they approach the management of f ood safety to better protect consumers; (2) enable 
policy makers and regulators to share information and to learn from each other how best to strengthen 
food safety control; and (3) analyze the challenges po sed to global health and development by food 
safety issues and call for governments, businesses, consumers, and development partners to join their 
hands in meeting these challenges.  The main outco me of the Forum was the adoption of the Beijing 
Declaration on Food Safety (Appendix 1).  The Fo rum brought together 688 participants from 47 
countries and regions, as well as 13 intern ational organizations (Appendix 2).  
2. H.E. Wu Yi, former Vice-Premier of the Stat e Council of the People’s Republic of China, 
Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General, and de legates from the United States, European Union 
and FAO addressed the opening ceremony of the Forum.  H.E. Wu Yi provided leadership to the 
Forum and guided the Forum’s work through a keynote address.  In her address, Madam Wu identified the high level of importance that the Chinese government accords to food safety issues and 
outlined the major advances being achieved in Chin a’s food safety management.  She noted the great 
benefits for all countries of taking a collaborativ e approach to enhancing food safety in a global 
community.  In particular, she noted the need to :  (1) enhance international collaboration on food 
safety issues;  (2) place emphasis on addressing food contamination at source by protecting the 
environment;  (3) establish an in ternational information sharing mechanism for food safety; (4)  
employ an open and consultative process to address food safety concerns of international significance; 
and (5) to play a more active role in food safety education and information sharing. 
3. WHO Director-General, Dr Margar et Chan (via video) expresse d her gratitude to China for 
proposing and hosting the Forum and pointed out that  urbanization, globalization and changes in 
people’s lifestyles "make food safety a major public hea lth concern, but also a development issue and 
a matter of great economic importance" and reinfor ced the value of such a Forum in giving emphasis 
to greater international exchange of informati on and expertise on food safety as essential factors in 
promoting safer food for all. G/SPS/GEN/838 
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  4. The significance of the Forum was further highlighted in addresses by high level 
representatives from the European Union; the Food and Drug Administration, the United States ; the 
Food and Agriculture Organization of the Unite d Nations; and the World Trade Organization. 
5. During the Forum, discussions focused on five key areas for international action including 
integration of food safety along the food chain; the use of risk-based approaches for establishing 
priorities and for undertaking remedial action, the va lue of sharing information for greater food safety 
in the global community; food safety education a nd the need for capacity building; the linkage 
between better trade and health; and approaches to strengthening international communication and 
collaboration on food safety.  More than 40 Minister s, Vice Ministers, senior officials and renowned 
experts from 23 countries and regions participated, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, 
Hong Kong, China, Macau, China, Denmark, Irela nd, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New 
Zealand, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Uganda, United Kingdom, United 
States, Viet Nam, ASEAN and the European Union.  
6. The exciting conclusions of the Forum are:  (1 ) the recognition by all who participated that 
common areas of concern should be addressed by all who want the global community to have access 
to safe food and (2) the call for all countries to ta ke action in seven key areas addressed in the Beijing 
Declaration on Food Safety.  The Declaration dem onstrates the resolution an d commitment of world 
stakeholders to address food safety problems together through enhanced collaboration.  The text of the 
declaration is also available on the webs ites of WHO and AQSIQ (www.aqsiq.gov.cn). 
  G/SPS/GEN/838 
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  Appendix 1.  Beijing Declaration on Food Safety  
1. Adopted by consensus1 by the High-level International Food  Safety Forum - "Enhancing 
Food Safety in a Global Community"  held in Beijing, the People's Republic of China on 26 and 
27 November 2007 
2. In recalling that access to safe food and a nutritionally adequate diet is a right of each 
individual21 and in recognition that: 
• Oversight of food safety is an essential public health function that protects consumers from 
health risks posed by biological, chemical  and physical hazards in food as well as by 
conditions of food; 
• Foodborne risks, if not controlled, can be major causes of disease and premature death as well 
as lost productivity and heavy economic burdens; 
• Equal application of food safety measures between countries as well as within countries can 
improve global food safety; 
• Integrated food safety systems are best suited to address potential risks across the entire food 
chain from production to consumption; 
• Food safety measures should be based on sou nd scientific evidence and risk analysis 
principles and should not unnecessarily create barriers to trade; 
• Production of safe food is primarily the responsibility of the food industry;  
• Education of consumers is critical in promoting safe food practices in the home; and, 
• Interactive communication with consumers is im portant for assuring that societal values and 
expectations are considered in the decision-making process. 
 
3. Therefore, all countries are urged to: 
• Establish competent food safety authorities as independent and trusted public health bodies 
within a comprehensive production to consumption legislative framework; 
•  Develop transparent regulation and other measur es based on risk analysis to ensure safety of 
the food supply from production to consumption,  harmonized with the guidance of the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission and other releva nt international standards-setting bodies; 
• Ensure adequate and effective enforcement of food safety legislation using risk-based 
methods, such as the Hazard Analysis and Cr itical Control Point system, where possible; 
• Establish food and total diet monitoring progr ammes with linkages to human and food-animal 
disease surveillance systems to obtain rapid and reliable information on prevalence and emergence of foodborne diseases a nd hazards in the food supply; 
• Establish procedures, including tracing and reca ll systems in conjunction with industry, to 
rapidly identify, investigate and control food safety incidents and to advise WHO of those that fall under the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) through the International Food 
Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) and the National IHR Focal Point; 
                                                     
 
1 The Australian delegation was unable to speak on behalf of the Australian Government because of 
caretaker conventions followi ng the recent election. 
2 World Declaration on Nutrition (1992) FAO/WH O International Conference on Nutrition, Rome G/SPS/GEN/838 
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  • Communicate and consult effectively with c onsumers, the food industry, and other 
stakeholders in developing, im plementing and reviewing food safety policies and priorities, 
including education and other matters of concern; and 
• Expedite the strengthening of food safety capacities through effective cooperation between 
developing and developed countries as well as among developing countries, thus promoting 
safer food for all. 
 
  G/SPS/GEN/838 
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Appendix  2:  List of participating countries/regions and international organizations 
 
 1. Argentina 
2. Australia 
3. Belgium 
4. Brazil 
5. Brunei 
6. Canada 
7. Chile 
8. China 
9. Columbia 
10. Denmark 
11. Egypt 
12. Ethiopia 
13. Finland 
14. France 
15. Germany 
16. Ghana 17. Hungary 
18. Hong Kong, China 
19. Indonesia 
20. Ireland 
21. Italy 
22. Japan 
23. Jordan 
24. Macau, China 
25. Malaysia 
26. Mongolia 
27. Netherlands 
28. New Zealand 
29. Nigeria 
30. Norway 
31. Philippines 
32. Poland 33. Republic of Korea 
34. Russia 
35. Saudi Arabia  
36. Singapore 
37. Spain 
38. Sweden 
39. Switzerland 
40. Thailand 
41. Uganda 
42. UK 
43. United States 
44. Uruguay 
45. Vietnam 
 
 
46. ASEAN Secretariat 
47. EU 
48. ADB 
49. CAC 
50. CCAG  
51. FAO 
52. GMA 
53. ICD 
54. OIE 
55. PA international fund  
56. UNICEF 
57. UNIDO 
58. WFP 
59. WHO 
60. WTO 
 
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