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At the Commune by the Great Wall Kempinski Resort, Beijing , China
Press Release Global food industry meets in Beijing; establishes Steering Committee on Global Food Safety. Great Wall, Beijing, CHINA, April 28, 2009 – Agro-industry leaders concluded the China Food Safety Roundtable with agreement on the need for greater industry coordination at the international level. Roundtable participants supported the establishment of a “Global Food Safety Steering Committee,” that would focus on the creation of a Global Food Safety Forum (GFSF). There was broad consensus that food safety issues are not confined to national boundaries. Despite progress in regulatory reforms, participants recounted first-hand experiences of gaps at both the national and international levels. Their presentations focused on the need to protect consumers, ensure uniform and reliable product, and prevent abuses. The Roundtable was a breakthrough event in terms of attendance and sector representation from around the world. In his opening remarks, co-host Rick Gilmore, President/CEO of GIC Group, underscored the urgency that the industry faces in addressing food safety concerns. “Food safety starts at the beginning of the food supply chain. With Rabobank’s expertise in food and agribusiness, from farm to fork, and an approach to banking that places great emphasis on sustainability and risk management, we see food safety as a critical factor in being the world’s leading food and agribusiness bank, ” commented Gilles Boumeester, Head of North East Asia for Rabobank International, the lead sponsor of the Roundtable. Major Chinese companies described their painstaking efforts to introduce higher quality and reliable certification procedures for sales at home and abroad. “The food safety issue is important for China. In the food business, transparency and quality control will help companies in China build confidence and acceptance of their products both at home and abroad,” Mr. Boumeester went on to say. In furthering China’s competitiveness, Dejun Huang, co-host President of Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultancy, noted that, “our country seeks to build partnerships and confidence with export customers.” Thad Simons, CEO of Novus International, a leading health service provider to animal operations and gold sponsor of the event stated, “Food safety knows no borders.” “We’ve come to China to develop new joint strategies, not to point fingers.” John Chapple, of SinoAnalytica, a global certification provider and Silver sponsor of the meeting at Badaling, led a session on the role of private testing and certification, and Vincent Paez, Director of Food Safety Business Development for Thermo Fisher Scientific, a software and hardware supplier to certification services and bronze sponsor, presented case studies that show how private testing can build consumer confidence. “There is a long list of threats in food safety. Some of those threats, such as swine flu, may require a concerted international management effort from the private and public sector. However, our industry has every interest in controlling what it can,” said Gilmore. China company roundtable participants, included COFCO, the Garden Company, Dachan Food Asia, Cargill, Keystone Foods, Caft Foods, and Tong Wei Foods. Sponsor Information: Lead Sponsor: Rabobank Group is a full-range financial services provider founded on a stable co-operative structure committed on long-term relationships with clients in the Food & Agribusiness sector. Headquartered in Utrecht, The Netherlands, the Group employs more than 60,000 staff in 45 countries, servicing the needs of more than nine million clients worldwide. Gold Sponsor: Novus International, leader in animal nutrition and health solutions worldwide. Mission to help feed the world affordable, wholesome food. Silver Sponsor: Sino Analytica , China 's first world-class independent food testing laboratory. Bronze Sponsor: Thermo Fisher Scientific, world’s largest provider of laboratory equipment and food testing services. Co-Host Information: GIC Group. GIC Group is an agri investment advisory and market research consulting firm established in Alexandria, Virginia since 1982. For further information about GIC Group, see http://www.gicgroup.com. BOABC: China’s leading agribusiness consulting firm, headquartered in Beijing. Contact: Sophie Yu Yang, BOABC # # #
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