Report of the second meeting of the Technical advisory group on food safety: safer food for better health, virtual meeting, 19 and 22–23 April 2021

Overview

The second Technical Advisory Group (TAG) meeting on the update of the WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety was held on 19, 22–23 April 2021, from 12:00 to 15:00 CET each day. The meeting was attended by WHO headquarters staff from the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, WHO regional advisors for food safety and 23 TAG members. Staff from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Codex Secretariat joined the meeting as observers.

The overall objective of the second TAG meeting was to review the first draft of the WHO Global Strategy Food Safety prepared by the WHO Secretariat based on the discussion from the first TAG meeting and comments received from TAG members and to finalize the draft for public consultation.

During the second TAG meeting, members discussed each section of the draft strategy in detail and agreed on its overall structure and content. Amendments were agreed to in the section on drivers of change for food safety, as well as the strategic priorities and strategic objectives. It was also agreed to include new sections on Food Safety and One Health and Food Safety Systems.

TAG members also discussed the general guidance for Member States to implement the strategy and the role of WHO in providing support. TAG members agreed to include a new section entitled, ‘‘Enhancing international cooperation’’ under the chapter on implementation and noted that the section should further highlight the technical cooperation and knowledge sharing among countries.

Regarding the Monitoring and Evaluation section in the strategy, TAG members supported the aim to establish global food safety indicators and targets, however, further technical discussions are needed to better identify, select and define the most appropriate indicators and targets.

The consultation recommended the WHO Secretariat:

• Revise the draft WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety in line with the comments and inputs provided during the second TAG meeting and the written comments received by 27 April.
• Prepare for the public consultation and provide regular updates to TAG members regarding progress and any changes to the content of the strategy.
• Share the draft workplan with the TAG members for written comment and organize follow-up meetings starting in September 2021.