Is APAC finally moving towards food safety regulatory harmonisation?
Global food safety authorities claimed ‘tangible results’ were seen in the most recent Asia-Pacific Food Regulatory Authority Summit (APFRAS) attended by 14 Pacific nations — but is this just talk?
“APFRAS has moved beyond our founding stage, and is entering a historic turning point towards broadening influence in food safety regulations,” South Korean Minister of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) Oh Yu-Kyoung told the floor.
“This summit marks a historic turning point for APAC food safety cooperation to take a leap forward [and evolve into] a consultative body that leads global food regulatory harmonisation.”
South Korea on ‘unfair’ online ads: Helping food firms avoid snags
The South Korean government has published an in-depth handbook on Unfair Online Advertising in a bid to further manage how food products are sold online.
“MFDS has seen many cases of unfair online advertising in the food sector based on our inspections over the past two years, many of which involve health benefits like height growth for children or diabetes prevention even though these were not true,” the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) said via a formal statement.
“We have taken action on hundreds of such cases [and now to clearly show what is] considered as unfair online advertising, this handbook will serve to help food firms understand exactly what statements and labels they are not allowed to use.”
Indonesia palm oil export controls: Impacts on global food sector
Indonesia’s new strategy to centralise key commodity exports such as palm oil is set to shake up food chains worldwide in a big way – here’s why.
Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto declared in parliament that it was time to regain control over profits made from the country’s key commodity exports such as palm oil and coal, stating that some US$9bn in revenue had been lost to it due to over three decades of selling these for ‘cheap’.
ASEAN poised as next halal growth market amid Middle East turmoil
South East Asia has all the parts in place to emerge as the key halal growth market for food amid the Middle East conflict — but will the region be able to grasp this opportunity?
“Everyone has heard about the geopolitical conflicts ongoing in the Middle East, and this actually does present an opportunity for the halal sector here in this region — all businesses looking for a stable yet halal-friendly environment to build and grow will be looking to us,” ethical advisory consultancy Dawn Horizon Founder and CEO Dewi Suratty said.
Vietnam halts food safety overhaul — but reform remains on agenda
Vietnam officials have paused the country’s food safety restructuring, stressing that the reform agenda is temporarily delayed rather than abandoned.
“At the request of the Ministers of Health, Agriculture and Environment, Industry and Trade, and Justice, the government has temporarily suspended [plans to] implement changes to guidelines in the Law on Food Safety,” then-Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long said in a formal statement.
“This is a temporary suspension, until a resolution is reached on policy amendments to be made to the Law of Food Safety and the decree guiding this amendment come into effect.”
