Executive Summary

Changes in the global community alter food safety landscapes. These changes stem from a few drivers impacting ASEAN. The drivers include society’s increasing demand for safe and nutritious food, the rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and foodborne diseases (FBDs), food fraud practices in global trade, climate change threats impacting food supply chains (FSCs), and changes brought by food e-commerce.
Integrating food safety and nutrition into every component of the food system (i.e., safe FSCs, a safe food environment, and consumer behaviour) is vital. Policy and control management, rapid risk-based inspection, data and information sharing, national laboratory systems, food safety emergencies and preparedness response, and food safety communication and education are a few actions to accelerate the
ASEAN has established initiatives to address food safety issues. However, the region still faces problems related to unfulfilled access to safe and nutritious food, including high prevalence of FBDs and Thus, a few recommendations to enhance the region’s food safety include: strengthening regional food safety systems through continuous development, ensuring compliance with regional policies, improving a safe food environment and safe FSCs, and enhancing consumer empowerment on food safety.
Recommendations to support the implementation of possible actions include: (i) strengthen regional food safety systems through continuous development and ensuring compliance with regional policies; (ii) improve safe food environment and safe food supply chains, and (iii) enhance consumer empowerment on food safety.

Introduction

Background, Objectives, Methodology, and Limitations

The ASEAN region has been prioritising food safety as a critical component of the ASEAN Post-2015 Health Development Agenda for 2021-2025. The agenda aims to address the rising concerns over foodborne illnesses, which continue to pose significant public health and economic burdens in the region. ASEAN implements various strategies to enhance food safety, such as: (i) provide scientific advice in developing evidence-based food safety risk management measures, (ii) minimise capacity gaps among national food control systems through capacity building,
(iii) improve the utilisation of appropriate and available mechanisms for food safety, and
(iv) enhance regional mechanism and multi- sectoral collaboration to strengthen ASEAN Member States’ food control system based on ASEAN Food Safety Policy, ASEAN Food Safety Regulatory Framework Agreement, and other relevant instruments.

This report aims to review the integration of regional food safety to face the changing landscape of the food system and health threats through portrayals of the ambitions and progress of ASEAN. The report identifies challenges and opportunities, both prevailing and emerging, that the ASEAN Member States (AMS) ought to overcome, explore, and capitalise on, and provide an overview of regional progress against the ideals above.

This report was written using various methodologies: content analysis, comparative or gap analysis, and descriptive analysis for quantitative data. Each methodology was used to compare and analyse secondary data to give perspectives on this issue in ASEAN and its member states.

We acknowledged several limitations in writing this Trend Report, such as unequal capacity and availability, some data are available in several but not all AMS, and a few are outdated or incomplete. Therefore, this report’s internal validity and generalisability should be interpreted cautiously.

Results and Recommendations

Strengthen Regional Food Safety Systems through Continuous Development and Ensuring Compliance with Regional Policies

As expressed above, ASEAN must be ready to adapt the food safety policies to face the food safety landscape’s change. This adaptation will require systematically evaluating food safety impacts arising from global changes; developing guidance and scale-up plans to improve food safety traded in traditional and regional food markets; and adapting risk management options to emerging FBDs, food fraud, and AMR. Although regional guidelines are in place for harmonisation, guidelines’ compliance and implementation among AMS are diverse due to different capacities and cultures. As discussed above, standardising and accelerating Codex adoption in AMS is the key to food safety harmonisation. Strong acceptance and the progressing adaptation of Codex to national regulation will simplify policy harmonisation. Moreover, as Codex adoption propels access to global food trade, private sectors will be more inclined to support Codex standards’ adoption. Nonetheless, ASEAN must first analyse the current status of Codex adoption in each AMS, the difference and gap in the standard adoptions among AMS, and the possible actions to accelerate this adaptation. Other recommended measures include analysing AMS’ food safety system to develop fit-for-purpose regional guidance for all levels of FSCs and strengthening the monitoring and surveillance of food safety in the region, including integrating FBD and AMR surveillance.

Improve Safe Food Environment and Safe Food Supply Chains

The availability of a safe food environment and FSCs are essential for food safety. As mentioned, a safe food environment in informal food industries is still a concern in AMS. Recommended actions for developing a safe food environment and FSCs include: (i) building WASH infrastructure in conventional markets as exemplified by The Safe Water and Nutrition (SWAN) Project in Viet Nam, providing technical assistance on WASH development and awareness; (ii) utilising incentives and routine evaluation to ensure food industries’ certifications; (iii) assessing the effectiveness and feasibility of using non-regulatory schemes (WHO, 2020, p.34); and (iv) collaborating with private sectors to conduct capacity building on food safety systems for FSCs actors (e.g., Viet Nam collaboration with Grab to educate SMEs). The actions mentioned above to enhance a safe food environment and FSCs will ensure sustainable integration of food safety into the food system. Moreover, the availability of supporting environments will promote consumer behaviour changes and create a robust food safety culture. However, the actions require high capital and collaboration with stakeholders outside the health and food sectors. Hence, heightening donors’ engagement, conducting feasibility studies for the development, and increasing cooperation with private sectors are crucial towards the implementation of these recommendations.

Enhance Consumer Empowerment on Food Safety

Consumer empowerment is one of the keys to accelerating food safety strengthening due to its impact on the demand for safe and nutritious food. Ensuring consumer empowerment and changes in their behaviour to support food safety requires intervention to increase awareness and create a supportive environment (e.g., a safe food environment and FSCs). These actions will amplify the consumers’ motivation and capacity to access safe, nutritious food. Furthermore, informed consumers can differentiate food quality and composition, reducing the possibility of consuming the food from food fraud in global trade. As mentioned, food safety awareness is one of the challenges in ASEAN’s food safety implementation. Several recommended actions to increase awareness and consumer empowerment include integrating food safety campaigns into other health and market events in the region; developing and promoting feedback mechanisms to involve consumers in food safety evaluation and surveillance; optimising vendors, community, and other FSCs actors’ roles as a catalyst for food safety culture integration; and integrating food safety approach into the education system.