On the morning of June 16, 2023 at the National Institute for Food Control (NIFC), the Technical Group on Food Safety Risk Assessment (TG-FSRA) kicked off its first meeting to discuss and agree about the Group’s implementation plan.
The TGFSRA was been established under the Ministry of Health’s Decision 1973/QD-BYT dated 27/4/2023, with the membership consisting of selected researchers and managers from relevant agencies and units under the three key ministries in charging of food safety management, namely: the Ministry of Health (MOH); the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) and; the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). The meeting was attended by: Assoc. Dr. Le Thi Hong Hao – director, NIFC; Mr. Nguyen Hung Long – deputy director general, Vietnam Food Safety Authority (VFA); Mr. Tran Cao Son – deputy director, NIFC; Ms. Phan Thi Phuong Thao – project manager, Canadian-funded Safe Food for Growth Project (SAFEGRO); and representatives from the participating ministries.
“Food safety risk assessments have been systematically carried out in countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia, such as the US, Canada, Netherlands, China, Korea, etc. So, the FSRATG is established with the aims are to research, give advise and propose to competent body a project on a food safety risk assessment model for Vietnam towards the establishment of a National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment. The established FSRATG that engages all the three ministries in charge of food safety management is an important milestone in the FSRA exercises in Vietnam. I wish that our Technical Group will successfully fulfill the set objectives and that the outcomes of the researches will help manage food safety effectively and approach to closer to that of advanced countries in the world”, said by the Assoc. Dr. Le Thi Hong Hao in her opening remarks.
The agenda of the TG meeting was to discuss and agree on the implementation plan for the coming time, including: desk research, training to enhance knowledge, study tours to exposure to good models and best practices in some relevant countries, and prepare a proposal on food safety risk assessment project… These tasks need to be undertaken and adhered to the agreed action roadmap to help prepare and submit the proposal on FSRA project to the line ministry for its approval. The FSRATG members have agreed with the action plan, the responsibility division and the task assignment and all wished to progress towards development of a national model on food safety risk assessment model for Vietnam.