At the second Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) seminar on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures and Food Safety, experts concluded that they will continue to work on food safety using the ''One Health'' approach that recognises that human and animal health are linked to each other and the environment. They also stressed the importance of the confidence building and that health issues should be addressed collaboratively, across sectors, disciplines and borders.

ASEM countries share a deep concern for food safety and believe that increased cooperation in this field could also ease trade between the two continents and make it more predictable and transparent. The meeting focused on food standards and official controls, e-commerce practices, food-related frauds, animal health international standards and fighting antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in an effort to increase mutual understanding and develop more harmonised measures. The meeting focused on food standards and official controls, e-commerce practices, food-related frauds, animal health international standards and fighting antimicrobial resistance (AMR); in order to increase mutual understanding and develop more harmonised measures.

The second ASEM seminar took place 5-6 December in Brussels. It brought together experts from 30 European and 21 Asian countries, as well as the European Commission and the ASEAN Secretariat.

For more information:

• Second ASEM Conference on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures
• ASEM SPS Seminar: New policies, challenges, cooperation and technical aspects of food safety