Toespraak bij de afsluiting van het International Seminar on Setting Food Safety Standards (Engelstalig)

Toespraak | 24-06-2008

Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to start by thanking you for all the work you have done this week. You have accepted the challenges presented by this seminar and made an assessment of the criteria that play a role in setting standards for food safety, including their possible implications for international trade, in particular for developing countries.

You have completed four days of intense collaboration with profound discussions, going on till the last moment. But what a great achievement you got. The results are excellent - a series of recommendations on a new policy approach to setting standards for food safety. You have given an impulse to the international debate on Risk Analysis in food safety, particularly Risk Management.

I am happy to see that our set-up of the seminar has helped to formulate these recommendations. The general presentations on the first day provided a solid context for the discussion. In his keynote speech, professor Rabbinge presented a detailed account of the problem to be discussed during the seminar. His speech was followed by presentations by the FAO, the WHO and the OIE, three international organisations that gave their considered view of this problem. Finally the WTO gave a presentation about setting standards, and the issues raised over the years by a number of countries in the SPS committee. Together they presented a solid basis for the afternoon discussions.

That afternoon you also received information about Risk Management in the Codex, in the EU, in the US and in international business. Finally, the World Bank focused on the costs of compliance, followed by presentations about the concerns shared by consumers and NGOs.

Another highlight was Tuesday when you were all working in groups. The working groups set off with presentations about practical cases against presentations about innovative methods. This approach would make the most of the expertise available and would also inspire the discussion. Practical examples served to illustrate and analyse how setting standards works in practice. The presentations about innovative methods showed which innovations have already been put in motion, and how they can be expanded. This can be used to take a step forward in the international debate on Risk Analysis, which is a step towards safe and healthy food for all.

I was informed that you used many practical examples clarifying the problems encountered. You also presented new ideas about innovative methods. On the basis of specific information you succeeded in formulating generic recommendations on veterinary drugs, contaminants, microbiologic agents and pesticides. Your recommendations will promote coherence between food safety, international trade and development cooperation.

Let me return to what I said at the opening of this seminar last Monday. I stated that the seminar is important because there is an urgent need to increase market access and that it is precisely here that we face several dilemmas.

The first dilemma faced by all parties in the agricultural trade is that while the current process for setting food safety standards protects public health it can in some cases also hinder international trade, particularly with developing countries. I mentioned the example of the development of more sophisticated detection methods over recent years, which was just also mentioned by the chairman of the seminar.

Against this background I am very happy with the specific recommendation of the working group on veterinary drugs on handling of prohibited substances through Reference Points of Action. The importance of this innovative method is that it solves the problem of unnecessary action due to ever more sensitive detection methods, while still fully guaranteeing food safety. However, this method is currently only applied in the European Union. In your recommendation you emphasise the need for harmonisation of veterinary drugs requirements on the global level, in particular through Reference Points of Actions. I strongly support this recommendation.

I raised as well the question how we do find a balance between food safety and market access. In essence this question is about policy coherence, coherence between food safety policy and international trade, particularly for developing countries. I emphasized that this is not only a technical issue. Of course our policy should be based on sound science but at the same time we should weigh several involved interests. And this should be done in the end at the political level.

Against this background I am particularly happy with the generic recommendation that enough policy space should be created to allow other factors, other than food safety, to influence the standards setting process, while still giving full protection to food safety and the health of the consumer.

As already stated by the chairman of the seminar, a number of your recommendations focus on the need for increased participation of developing countries in the standards setting process. They concern the gathering of relevant data and the need for harmonization of surveillance and control systems in the importing countries. This also concerns the involvement of producers in developing countries, especially smallholders in the process of SPS notification.

For all of this the producer organisations, especially smallholder organisations, should be strengthened. And the developed countries, both governments and private enterprise, should support this. In many instances this is already done. For instance in the Round Tables on sustainable Soy and Palm Oil by private companies from Europe and the US. Recently, the minister of Development Cooperation and I sent a policy paper to the Parliament on agriculture, rural development and food security. It also stressed the need for strengthening smallholder organisations in developing countries. The government of the Netherlands will support that.

Although this seminar focused on public standards, in the real world producers are confronted also with private standards. When public and private standards co-exist unnecessary duplication should be avoided, specifically with the view to costs of compliance.

Ladies and gentlemen,
I really appreciate what you have accomplished. Reaching this level of agreement in an international meeting attended by so many is a great achievement indeed. The seminar was attended by about 175 participants from all over the world – developing countries, new emerging economies and developed countries. You have made this happen and I thank you for it!

As I stated in my opening speech I will study your recommendations and consider when and how I will put your recommendations on the agenda of the relevant international organisations, such as FAO, WHO, OIE, Codex Alimentarius and the European Union with a view to continuing to work on a new, policy oriented approach for setting food safety standards.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you very much for your time and effort and I wish you all a safe journey back home!