Ajit Kumar, vice chancellor, NIFTEM suggested that basic protocols be prepared for every step in the food chain including farmers, transporters, handlers, wholesalers and retailers. He also advised that traditional Indian Recipes can be standardized.
Anil Jauhari, CEO, NABCB, emphasized that meeting the international standards is a key for India to increase the trade within context to food safety. While International standards are the widely acceptable standards, we should look beyond.
Dr John McDermot, director IFPRI highlighted the need for industry to collaborate in the field of research to develop and strengthen the food value chain. He explained about the dire need to relook at the present polies and subsidies available for some specific commodities to make it more holistic. He mentioned that to strengthen the business connect, improvement in outlay of finance in structured manner is a challenge to be overcome. He highlighted the need to accelerate innovation and sustain them in a country like India.
He emphasized that it's only the synergy between private and public sector that will transform the food value chain in an achievable manner. He stated that the Indian Government and private sector should work collectively towards progress of informal market that exists in large no in Asia to achieve the food safety to the core.
In his opening remarks Mayank Jalan, managing director, Keventer Agro, highlighted the importance of food processing and need for food safety in the country. He highlighted the work being undertaken by CII national committee of food processing like harmonization of standards, creating awareness about the food safety management systems etc. He emphasized the need of institutionalizing a mechanism for development of global practices.
Earlier in the day, Carl Sciacchitano, Country Director, USFDA stated that in order to develop a solid foundation for safety measures it is of utmost importance for all the stakeholders to come together and take proactive measures to detect the problems even before they occur.
Dean Runghetta, Asst Director, USFDA highlighted the importance of FSMA, why it is needed , main themes, trade agreements etc. he emphasized on exchange of technical information between the countries to facilitate the trade with respect to safety issues.
While deliberating on the Research conducted in Federal Research Institutes in Germany, Prof Gerhard Rudolf Rechkemmer mentioned about the need to have scientific basis for risk assessment. He elaborated on the German research landscape including the German research council and research institutes.
Nimish Shah, Director, Safety and Environment Assurance Centre, Unilever stated that there is a need to have an academic institute focusing purely on food safety. A detailed scientific study highlighting the relation between the causative agent and diseases is needed by the country.
In his session on Systems to Balance the needs of Innovation and Consumer Protection, Mr Ian Urquart, Director, Regulatory Affairs, GSK Consumer Healthcare spoke about the need to have control systems that are proportional to the risk. He emphasized on having competitive innovation, appropriate systems and procedure for risk management to win the confidence of the consumer.
Speaking on the Challenges in GCC Countries, Bobby Krishna, Principal Food Inspection Officer, Dubai Municipality, highlighted the need to have data to layout the plan for risk management. He talked about the importance of Traceability to prevent any outbreak. He emphasized on harmonizing the safety standards across the countries and Dubai’s present focus on capacity building through visual and animated presentation for Food business Operators.
More than 200 Food Safety & Quality professionals from across the globe gathered for the Annual Flagship event supported IFRI, MIBRT and the Industry partners to discuss the various ways through which Food Safety, Quality and Competitiveness of the Food Chain could be brought to Global standards in India. This 2 -day event in its new format of Plenary sessions on Day 1 and concurrent Master Classes on Day 2, will serve as a platform for sharing Capacity Building Initiatives and insights of other countries and sharing of views about current food safety and quality trends while providing extensive networking opportunities with industry peers and domain experts.