On March 24th, the China Nutritional Health Food Association and the International Food Additives Committee (IFAC) jointly organized a symposium on international regulations of raw materials, ingredients, and additives for food before the 51st formal meeting of the International Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA). In total, the symposium invited 53 participants, including leaders from the Special Food Safety Regulation Department of the State Administration of Market Regulation, the National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center, the China Food evaluation Center, the Food Inspection Institute of the China Food and Drug Administration, and representatives from 11 industry associations and enterprises from the United States, the European Union, Japan, Taiwan and other countries or regions.
Bian Zhenjia, president of China Nutrition and Health Food Association, delivered a speech at the meeting. He mentioned that the food safety issue in the context of globalization has caused widespread concern and become a problem that all countries in the world must face together, and that the role of industry associations has also become increasingly important in the process of globalization. He noted, “Everyone has made a lot of efforts in legal system construction, risk assessment, risk communication, standard coordination, industrial policy, and regulatory capacity building regarding to raw materials and ingredients for food, especially special food. I hope all international colleagues will strengthen communications, establish friendship, jointly carry out international exchanges and cooperation, learn from the experience of each other's work, share outstanding ideas, and make proper contributions to maintain food safety in China and the world.”
Fan Yongxiang, chairman of the CCFA, and Jin Fabin, deputy director of the Health Food Regulation Sector of the Special Food Safety Regulation Department of the State Administration of Market Regulation also delivered speeches respectively and congratulated the convening of the symposium.
Li Liangqiu, deputy secretary-general of the China Nutrition and Health Food Association, hosted the meeting. Deputy Secretary-General Li introduced the establishment background, the scope of services, and the internal work of the CNHFA.
Caroline Rey, EU affairs manager of the EU Special Food Ingredients Association, introduced the EU regulatory systems and related regulations for food raw materials, ingredients, and additives, and the latest requirements for the safety regulation of additives.
Michelle Smolarski, scientific and nutritional specialist of the International Food Additives Council, gave a brief introduction about the International Food Additives Council, and explained in detail the structural changes in the US food and drug regulatory authorities and the critical points of dietary supplements.
Seguro Katsuya, technical consultant of the Japan Food Additives Association, introduced the Japanese food additive regulations and relevant activities.
Tin-Chen Hsu, Ph.D. of the International Life Science Society of Taiwan, shared critical points regarding to the contents of the Food Safety Law Amendment since 2013.
Wu Zhiyong, international trade commissioner of the Processed Products and Technology sector of the US Department of Agriculture, introduced the current trends in food additives and their impacts on international trade.
China's regulatory standards system and construction are also introduced as main topics of the symposium.
At the end of the symposium, Wen Wei, rotating chairman of the CNHFA's raw materials and ingredients professional committee, hosted the discussion session. She reported the vision and work objectives of the committee. Participants conducted in-depth exchanges on the following topics: regulation of raw materials and ingredients, the management of secondary food additives, the safety assessment of GMM-derived food additives, raw materials, and ingredients, the challenges faced by various stakeholders, and the implementation of international cooperation initiatives.
