VIỆN KIỂM NGHIỆM AN TOÀN VỆ SINH THỰC PHẨM QUỐC GIA

The 12th Meeting of the ASEAN Food Testing Laboratories Committee (AFTLC) was held on 27-28 April 2018,Langkawi, Malaysia. The Meeting was chaired by Dr Panadda Silva, National Institute of Metrology Thailand (NIMT), Ministry of Science and Technology, Thailand, and vice-chaired by Dr. Tran Cao Son, National Institute for Food Control (NIFC), Viet Nam. The Meeting was attended by delegates from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam and the ASEAN Secretariat.

The 12^th Meeting of AFTLC

The Meeting discussed many important matter of AFTLC including the implementation of the Mechanism Procedures for Monitoring the Performance of AFRLs; building the manual of AFTLC; Mapping of Food Safety Testing Laboratory Network in ASEAN Member States; and the development of the first AFTLC bulletin. The Meeting noted the report of 9 AFRLs including Genetically Modified Organism (GMO), Heavy Metals and Trace Elements, Veterinary Drug Residue, Pesticide Residues, Mycotoxins, Food Microbiology, Food Additives, Food Contact Materials, and Environmental Contaminantsand requested AFRLs to also include in the progress report: the output, results of the proficiency testing and the impact of the training and PTs conducted, including follow up actions taken.

The Meeting reviewed the applications of the expert for the assessment of new AFRL for Marine biotoxins and Schombotoxin and agreed to have two experts from the ASEAN region and one from outside the ASEAN region. AFTLC agreed to engage the expert nominated by Viet Nam (Dr. Tran Cao Son), Malaysia (A/P Dr. Lim Po Teen) and Japan (Dr. Toshiyuki Suzuki) be the panel of experts for the assessment of Thailand and Singapore laboratories.

The 13^thAFTLC Meeting will be held back to back with the 27^th PFPWG Meeting with one day workshop and two days meeting tentatively planned to be held in November 2018 in Myanmar.