EFSA visited the Food Safety Commission of Japan (FSCJ) last week for the fifth bilateral meeting between the two organisations in the last five years. The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) and the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) accompanied EFSA on the trip.

The delegation took part in an international conference called “What Does the Future Hold for International Scientific Cooperation for Food Safety?” jointly organised by FSCJ and EFSA.

The focus of the conference was to identify key priorities and areas for cooperation between the EU, Japan and countries in Southeast Asia.

EFSA Executive Director Bernhard Url said: “There was a strong focus on food safety cooperation to help address current challenges worldwide. We were pleased to pass on our experience of cross-border efforts in Europe to our Japanese and Southeast Asian colleagues.

“We were able to learn too from the needs and successes of our Asian partners and identify some key projects for further cooperation. So it’s a mutually beneficial process for all of us.”

The joint EU-French-German delegation held talks with their Japanese counterparts covering a range of areas of cooperation and mutual support such as strategic risk communication, new risk assessment methodologies, fostering capacity building and knowledge exchange for risk assessment.

Future projects in this area will involve joint EFSA and Member State as well as international partners to ensure fit-for-purpose results and best use of resources.