It just gets better and better! 2016 has been a good year for GFSF. We are grateful to GFSF China staff and Director, Mr. Yuan Yao, for all their creative energies in organizing a series of successful events culminating in the annual June Summit. This year, the Summit was held at the Banji Yanqi Lake International Convention Center outside Beijing, followed by a half day of presentation and discussions at Tootoo Organic Farm, Beijing. On the third day, several registrants joined an official delegation visit to Yantai in the northeastern province of Shandong, China, for a follow-on session with local businesses and visits to local farms, beverage facilities, and agro-software industries.
Our partnership with the World Bank’s Global Food Safety Partnership (GFSP) has been productive in terms of shaping new forms of collaboration. The program now has a new CEO, Ms. Lystra Antoine, and is planning a new program and activity agenda for CY 2017. GFSF publications and social media have gained increasing attention for GFSF and outreach opportunities.
We are continuing our efforts to offer a curriculum of e-courses in collaboration with the University of Maryland, JIFSAN (Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition) and MOOCS in conjunction with GFSP. We now have a few courses available in Chinese and are hopeful that we will secure a formal co-host for these courses in China.
Food safety liability insurance products are another high priority for us. We hosted workshops during the year and will be offering more in CY 2017 to give our members the opportunity to learn of the multiple advantages to these products as suppliers for international buyers. The amended Basic Food Safety Law encourages insurance and we are working with China government counterpart agencies and international buyers to raise participation levels. We hope to educate Chinese companies on the benefits of these products to achieve compliance with national and international standards as well as to satisfy new requirements of international buyers.
As China has advanced in regulatory oversight of food safety in China, we are placing more emphasis on food safety technologies as a complementary effort to help regulators and companies comply with food safety requirements in the global supply chain. We are encouraged by the widening participation of technology providers in GFSF activities. We’re also reviewing options for training in the use of blockchain applications in food safety and are evaluating our own direct participation in offering new blockchain software for food tracing systems technologies.
On the brick and mortar side, we welcome all the support we receive from our strategic partners, including AmCham Vietnam, Food Industry Asia, and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. With the help of AmCham, we are preparing to expand our franchise to Vietnam which promises to be a major event for 2017.
We have a robust agenda for new projects and activities in 2017, but the building blocks are much the same as this year. We are grateful for the support we receive from industry and the close collaboration with official China government agencies. GFSF has become a platform to solve problems and create opportunities for collaborative risk mitigation strategies.
As we enter the final quarter of the year, we ask you to join us in our full range of activities and programs that will position your company as a leader in food safety in the China market. For further information on our end-of-the-year special membership rates, please contact us at GIC Group or myself directly at rickgilmore@gicgroup.com
Best regards,
Rick Gilmore
Chairman
GFSF www.globalfoodsafetyforum.org