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- Last Updated 11/11/2026
From November 3 to 4, 2026, the 29th ASEAN Food Testing Laboratories Committee (AFTLC) Meeting took place in the capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. The Vietnamese delegation, including representatives from the National Institute for Food Control (NIFC) under the Ministry of Health and QUATEST 3 under the Commission for Standards, Metrology and Quality of Vietnam, Ministry of Science and Technology, made significant contributions aimed at enhancing testing capabilities and moving toward harmonizing food testing across the ASEAN region.
The 29th AFTLC Meeting was attended by delegates representing 10 ASEAN Member States (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam) and the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC). This event marked a new milestone in the ongoing technical cooperation on food testing under the ASEAN Prepared Foodstuff Working Group (PFPWG) and the ASEAN Consultative Committee on Standards and Quality (ACCSQ).
ASEAN Delegates attending the 29th AFTLC Meeting.
During the opening session, the Meeting witnessed the handover ceremony of the AFTLC Chairmanship from Malaysia (Ms. Laila Rabaah Ahmad Suhaimi) to Myanmar (Mr. Han Min Ohn), and the Vice-Chairmanship to the Philippines (Ms. Diana G. Micua). The Meeting acknowledged and highly praised Malaysia’s outstanding contributions as Chair during its tenure toward promoting regional reference laboratory capacity-building programs.
One of the top priorities of the Vietnamese delegation at AFTLC 29 was defending and presenting the upgraded draft initiative, “Review and Enhancement of the Periodic Performance Evaluation Mechanism for ASEAN Food Reference Laboratories,” under the PFPWG Work Plan 2026–2030. Vietnam, serving as the lead country in collaboration with Indonesia, prepared and presented the draft proposal, fully integrating feedback from all member states. The Meeting unanimously approved the draft proposal for submission to the 43rd PFPWG Meeting for official endorsement.
The Vietnamese delegation, led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Cao Son, attended the conference
At the 29th AFTLC Meeting, the professional role and technical capacity of the National Institute for Food Control (NIFC) and Vietnam's leading testing institutions were further affirmed through concrete and practical outcomes. In the annual activity report of the AFRL for Mycotoxins (SFA, Singapore), the Meeting recognized the notable success of the Intensive Technical Training Course on Mycotoxin Analysis hosted by NIFC in Hanoi from May 12 to 15, 2026. Held under the framework of the AFTLC-PTB Cooperation Project, the training brought together 10 technical experts from four Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) countries (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam). Equipped with modern laboratory infrastructure and a highly experienced team of instructors, NIFC worked closely with Singaporean experts to successfully conduct hands-on practical sessions on multi-analyte mycotoxin determination using LC-MS/MS, helping enhance practical testing capacity for laboratories in the region.
Representing the AFRL for Food Microbiology, Quality Assurance and Testing Center 3 (QUATEST 3) presented its 2025–2026 activity report, which received high praise from the Meeting for organizing international Proficiency Testing (PT) schemes and supplying Certified Reference Materials (CRMs). QUATEST 3 is currently undergoing its 5-year re-evaluation, scheduled for early 2027.
The 29th AFTLC Meeting discussed and agreed upon several key decisions shaping the ASEAN food testing cooperation framework:
- The Meeting officially finalized and adopted the final draft of the “Mechanism for Harmonizing Test Methods for Food and Food Contact Materials for Prepared Foodstuff.”
- Continued updating obsolete analytical methods while adding new parameters and sample matrices for existing AFRLs.
- The Meeting reviewed preliminary reports on the on-site evaluations of the AFRL for Heavy Metals (Thailand) and the AFRL for GMOs (Malaysia), as well as the annual reports of all 11 AFRLs in the region.
- AFTLC will convene an online AFTLC Intersessional Meeting during the first week of December 2026 to further discuss test method harmonization and ASEAN food reference laboratory re-evaluations.
The 29th AFTLC Meeting concluded successfully with numerous key outcomes, reinforcing the professional standing of Vietnam's food testing system on the international stage. Moving forward, the National Institute for Food Control will continue to work closely with the Vietnam Food Administration, the ASEAN Secretariat, and regional reference laboratories to further expand Proficiency Testing (PT) programs, production of Certified Reference Materials (CRMs), international training courses, and bilateral/multilateral technical cooperation to support capacity building for countries across the region.
The proactive engagement and responsible contributions of NIFC in particular, and Vietnam as a whole, at AFTLC 29 play a vital role in achieving ASEAN's shared goal: building a transparent, standardized, and reliable food testing system that safeguards consumer health and facilitates intra-regional and international food trade to the fullest extent.
Department of Science, Training and International Cooperation
