Advancing Food Safety in Turbulent Times

We are living in an increasingly complex, uncertain and ever-changing environment, certainly one of the most disruptive times in modern human history, with no need to mention the COVID-19 pandemic, the current political turmoil, the rise of national protectionism, the brutal invasion of Ukraine and the current tensions between China and Taiwan.

As we can see it, geopolitical issues, as collateral damage, can jeopardize the balance of the world supply much more than drought, locust invasion, mycotoxin or even climate change.

However, there is one constant in this world: no country is absolutely self-dependent on food these days. It is impossible to grow and produce all that a country needs. The global food trade is an integral part of the food system, and it brings many benefits to people and countries.

Now, it’s loud and clear that there is no road back. Nourishing the planet is at stake, and the food trade must know no borders. How can we resolve interdependent global food challenges in this fragmented world?

The recent disruptions have exacerbated deep divisions and inequities worldwide. At the same time, the urgent need to address shared global food challenges persists, giving rise to the question of resolving challenges in a fragmented world.

In this unstable and sometimes aggressive environment, the agri-food industry, in addition to performing its ultimate task — delivering sufficient and safe food — is facing many other challenges, namely: ensuring fair distribution of value within food systems, accelerating decarbonization, regaining market share in exports, meeting new consumer expectations, modernizing its product lines and industrial tools, integrating the digital revolution, adapting employee skills and engagement and strengthening attractiveness of jobs. Previous models toward shared global goals could become invalid in this changing world.

How can we resolve interdependent global food challenges in this fragmented world?

Among all these challenges, providing sufficient and safe food to all must remain a shared risk and a shared responsibility for all actors in the food system continuum, regardless of the geopolitical context.

In this global economy, it’s critical to ensure that food safety is managed globally and in a harmonized way. In a new era of uncertainty and disruption, solving food security problems lies in a new approach based on innovation, collaboration and education, which are the three pillars of improving food security globally, but which need to be further developed without borders.

Despite untoward winds, the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) doesn’t change course. It continues to collaborate across borders and barriers to help ensure safe and sufficient food for everyone.

GFSI ambition remains to strengthen and harmonize food safety systems so food stakeholders can feed the growing global population and develop markets that can deliver sufficient and safe food, no matter where in the world the consumer is.

By focusing its works on benchmarking and harmonization, capability building, innovations and public-private partnership, GFSI is playing an instrumental role in pursuing its goal despite geopolitical crisis and the disruption in food supply chains.