DM organizes International Food Safety Conference alongside Gulfood 2006

The food safety conference will take place on the 20th, 21st and 22nd February from 9am - 11am at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

One of the highlights of the event will be a visit from a delegation from the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which was set up by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations in 1963. Representatives from the group, which aims to promote shared food standards around the world, will be joined by experts from across the region and from Canada, Australia and the United States to discuss some of the specific challenges facing the Middle East.

"Within the scope of its future strategic plan, the Public Health Department of Dubai Municipality had proposed conducting a number of specialized conferences and workshops in various aspects related to public health reflecting the vision of the Municipality to create an excellent city that provides the essence of success and comfort," said Eng. Salem Mesmar, Director of Public Health Department.

"Ensuring Food safety is considered one of the priorities of Dubai Municipality. Hence the Municipality planned holding a food safety conference to bring in local, regional and international experts from all over the world to discuss issues related to food safety and hygiene," he said.

"We started implementing this plan during Gulfood Exhibition 2005, where a questionaire was prepared by the Food Control Section of Dubai Municipality and distributed among different exhibitors," said Khalid Mohammed Shareef, Assistant Director of Public Health Department and Head of Food Control Section.
He said the response was great, especially from the trade missions of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and USA, who agreed to sponsor experts from their respective countries.

"So, a lot of effort was exerted by the Food Control Section and Dubai World Trade Centre to organize this conference through contacting local, regional and international professionals and experts in field of food safety, hygiene, and trade," Shareef said.

He said the specific reasons for holding the conference was to discuss new emerging food safety pathogens, contaminants, and concerns such as Avian Flu, Foot and Mouth Disease, GM foods, risks associated with packaging food materials, Halal foods, etc.

Issues related to international agreements such as WTO, and SPS agreements will also be discussed in the conference, in aadition to all issues pertaining to rejection of food consignments on scientific justifications and risk analysis.

A scientific committee was formed for organizing this conference and for selecting the competent speakers. The topics to be presented at the conference include Food Import & Export Procedures in the UAE, Perception of Saudi Consumers Opinion towards Food Safety Issues, Food Safety and Problems associated with Food Trades, Importance of Traceability in the Food Industry, Electronic Certification System for Animal Products Trade - The New Zealand Example, Food Safety System in the Dairy Industry, The Regulation of Genetically Modified Foods in Saudi Arabia, International Food Laws and Regulations, Food Safety System in the Meat Industry and Food Safety Challenges in the Middle East.

He added that invitations have been sent to the General Secretariat of Municipalities, all Municipalities of the UAE, regional food control authorities, interantional organizations such as Codex and WHO, academic institutions in the UAE which are concerned with food safety, food manufacturers and caterers, food importers and exporters and GCC standardization and Metrology Organization.

Shareef said the conference takes advantage of the Gulfood Exhibition, which brings in food experts, manufacturers, caterers and traders from all over the world. He said more than a thousand exhibitors will participate the Gulfood, in addition to the visitors and food safety professionals.

"A summary and recommendations of the conference shall be prepared by the scientific committee. This first conference is regarded as a trial. Depending on the response, improvements shall be made in the coming conferences. We will hold this conference annually and we also think of increasing the number of days," he said.
Shareef said the conference reconfirms Dubai's commitment to excellency and leadership in all aspects related to providing healthy and prosperous community.