Food Safety on the International Negotiation and the International Agricultural Trade

Afro-Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO) was established in 1962 as an inter-governmental body to provide a forum for the countries in the continents of Africa and Asia to discuss their problems and to explore, collectively opportunities for coordination of efforts for promoting welfare and eradication of thirst, hunger, illiteracy and disease among rural people. AARDO promotes the exchange of views, ideas, experiences and information in the field of rural and agricultural development amongst the member countries to make concerted efforts, wherever possible, to improve the quality of life of the rural people. In fact, the Organization is one of the earliest examples of South-South cooperation in rural development in the Afro-Asian region. AARDO has been laying emphasis through the implementation of its technical activities, among others, on human capacity building by facilitating international training courses, arranging deputation of experts and study visits, and organizing international workshops/seminars and implementation of pilot development projects, etc. Organizing RECA (Research and Education Centre of AARDO) seminar at the Institute for the Development of Agricultural Cooperation in Asia (IDACA), Tokyo, Japan has been one of the important and regular activities of the Organization since 1967. So far twenty-seven (27) seminars including the current one have been organized by AARDO at IDACA. In most of the RECA Seminars organized earlier, emphasis remained on the development of agricultural cooperatives in Asia and Africa, with special reference to the development of rural women and farmers-leaders. However, to focus on the current topics, i.e., concerning WTO agreement and its impact on agriculture and related issues such as multidimensionality of agriculture, food security and safety, etc., AARDO in consultation with JA-Zenchu and IDACA decided to change the themes of some seminars to make them attuned with changing scenarios for the benefit of its member countries. Accordingly, the 23rd and 24th RECA Seminars were organized on “WTO and its Impact on Agriculture” at IDACA during 2001 and 2002 respectively. Similarly, the 27th RECA Seminar on “Food Safety on the International Negotiation and the International Agricultural Trade” was held at IDACA during 18-28 July 2005. The Seminar focused on: I) the main food safety concerns or agenda; ii) government policies to promote food safety regulatory programmes and measures; iii) scientific and regulatory measures adopted to ensure high quality food standards; iv) agencies and institutions involved in food safety programmes; v) degree of awareness about food safety among food producers and consumers; vi) role of food producers and consumers to attain and maintain high food safety standards; vii) compliance of country standard with the internationally required standards; viii) how the countries’ quality measures affect export and import of food; and ix) how the country perceives and pursues the food safety measures embodied in Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary measures of WTO on the international agricultural trade negotiations. The food safety and security is an issue that concerns consumers as well as food producers alike. The 1996 World Food Summit declared that ‘food security exists when all people all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food for a health and active life’. The whole food chain system form production to consumption and disposal impacts consumers. Food not only fulfills nutritional needs but is also an expression of religion and culture. It plays a role in the conservation of the environment, sustains the livelihoods of workers and farmers and provides foreign exchange to countries. It involves a spectrum of government policies encompassing agriculture, consumers, health and nutrition and trade.