Food and Environmental Protection Newsletter, Vol. 22, No. 1, January 2019

Food safety remains one of the priorities of the Joint FAO/IAEA Programme of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture. Indeed, at the 62th General Conference (GC62) of the International Atomic Energy Agency in September last year, the Agency was commended on its continued efforts in the development and application of nuclear and related techniques for food safety and control. Within the Food and Environmental Protection (FEP) subprogramme our focus is on techniques to: detect food residues and contaminants; combat food fraud; use ionizing radiation as a post-harvest food treatment; and ensure that appropriate standards and norms are in place regarding food and radiation safety. Our main objectives are to protect consumers and enhance food trade competitiveness in international markets. One of the main ways in which we strive to do this is by enhancing networks, for example networks of analytical laboratories to build and strengthen laboratory capacity for food safety and quality related work in Member States. The current FEP mandate and its overall objectives are also fundamental in the future strategic planning of programmatic activities targeted at helping Member States enhance and improve their food safety and food control systems.