GFSI supports food safety targets in Japan

BY 2020, the Japan Local Group of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) says over 6,000 food production sites will become certified to a GFSI-recognized certification program or to embark on GFSI’s Global Markets Program. The year coincides with the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo welcoming athletes and sports fans from around the world.

The goal was announced at the 7^th GFSI Focus Day Japan, which gathered 400 food safety experts from private and public sectors under the theme Local Implementation and Global Harmonization.

At this conference, Katsuki Kishi, GFSI Board Member and Chair of the Japan Local Group, said the priority is public-private collaboration for harmonization and improved food safety by means of GFSI’s two key tools: 1) benchmarking and recognition of food safety certification programmes, and 2) GFSI's  Global Markets Program.  “These tools are the right solutions to help us achieve our food safety goals as an industry, as a country and beyond. Meanwhile, they will improve Japanese market access internationally. We have a golden opportunity ahead to ensure that all food produced and purchased for the 2020 sporting event adheres to strong food safety standards, either certified to an GFSI-recognized certification programme or benefiting from GFSI’s capability building program.”

In Japan, industry and regulators must evolve to meet rapidly changing consumer expectations for transparency and food safety are rapidly rising. Representatives from national government entities participated in the Focus Day, taking the stage to voice their hopes for increased collaboration with GFSI as the way forward for food safety in Japan.

Ken Saito, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, made a historical speech saying, “Food safety management based on scientific rationale is critically important. We anticipate a big contribution to food safety management systems by GFSI.”

Other government bodies also looked to the future of food safety in Japan, making a strong link with GFSI contributions. The Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (MHLW) presented the “Institutionalization of HACCP” and the Kochi Prefecture presented "Kochi HACCP Harmonized with GFSI’s Global Markets Program.”

These calls for increased collaboration and heightened use of GFSI tools are most welcome at a time when GFSI is scaling up efforts to enhance public-private partnerships as one of its current strategic objectives.

GFSI tools at the service of Japanese business and government objectives

GFSI’s Global Markets Program serves as the pathway to certification, guiding companies who lack or have underdeveloped food safety systems through a step-by-step improvement process.

As mandatory HACCP implementation by SMEs is one of the most urgent challenges in Japan, GFSI's Global Markets Programme is seen as a tremendous tool to provide safer food for Japanese consumers and international market access for Japanese operations.

Japan to host GFSI's Global Food Safety Conference 2018

The annual GFSI conference will take place in Tokyo for its 17^th edition, bringing 1,000 leaders from the global food industry under one roof from 5-8 March to advance the GFSI vision of safe food for consumers everywhere. This is the industry's annual rendezvous, providing a space for knowledge-sharing, networking and gaining insights into the latest advances in science, technology and collaborative solutions being leveraged for food safety around the world.

The GFSI community has been working hard to set the scene for the Tokyo conference, and has sharply increased the volume of material available in Japanese, with the official GFSI website launched in Japanese during the Focus Day.