Meeting objectives

Introductory presentation

Food and AgricultureOrganization of theUnited Nations

Background• Food safety: global concern• Consumers have the right to safe and nutritious food (FAO,1996)• Efforts to strengthen food control systems in

many countries

However…

Ongoing efforts to improve:• National food safety policy• Legislative framework• National food control systems• Food monitoring, inspection, testing• Health surveillance• Regulatory enforcement• Risk communication• Laboratory tools and practices

Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS)• Recently emerged laboratory tool• Great potential in investigating, assessing and managing

microbiological food safety issues/illnesses• Level of precision not previously possible• Costs rapidly declining• Several industrialized countries: moving forward with WGS• Applications in developing countries: limited• Information on benefits/drawbacks,

infrastructure requirements and technical challenges is urgently needed for such countries to make appropriate decisions

Participants: 174 from 46 countries

65%14%

15%2%4% Government

Private sector

Academia

NGOs

IGOs

Meeting structure• Monday, 23 May 2016• Presentation on the Technical Paper developed by

FAO in collaboration with WHO• Panel discussions:

• Benefits and potential drawbacks of WGS for food safety• Considerations for developing countries• Key needs for global actions and potential roles of

international organizations• Tuesday and Wednesday, 24-25 May 2016• GMI-9 including working group break-out sessions• Topics include: active system, identification,

characterization, global capacity, epidemiology, surveillance, international data sharing and metagenomics

Meeting objectives• To provide participants opportunity to discuss and

understand the current applications of WGS in food safety management• To learn from the experts on benefits and potential drawbacks in employing WGS for food safety• To discuss the needs, opportunities and challenges for developing countries• To provide networking opportunities with experts

from the Global Microbial Identifier (GMI) initiative• To identify key needs for global actions

Expectations• The topic is fairly new to most of the participants

• Please ask questions, share concerns, excitements and needs!• By the end of the meeting, participants will:

• Have a good understanding of the current applications of WGS in food safety management with the case studies from some countries

• Be able to consider the feasibility in applying WGS technology in their own country/setting/context

• Have contacts (network) of experts to consult or work together• Be able to identify key needs for global actions thus can consider

requesting actions/assistance by international organizations• Your active participation is key

Meet the secretariat members• Mr Markus Lipp, Senior Food Safety Officer• Ms Masami Takeuchi, Food Safety Officer• Mr Mehad Omer• Ms Amrutha Anandaraman

• Global Microbial Identifier (GMI) members

Thank youMerci

Gracias谢谢Спасибо

شكرا

Food and AgricultureOrganization of theUnited Nations