In a new “Conversations with Experts” article, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has highlighted the importance of its engagement with international organizations on critical food safety topics. In the conversation, experts from the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) describe the organizations and the objectives of FDA’s engagement with to help strengthen the global food safety system, to ensure safe and fair trade in food, and to encourage the harmonization of science-based food safety standards.

Among the organizations highlighted is the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), an organization with which FDA has a long history of collaboration. In the conversation, the authors discuss FDA’s leadership in APEC and its involvement in the upcoming suite of food safety meetings in Detroit, Michigan, taking place May 15–19, 2023.

Topics broached include whole genome sequencing (WGS), as well as FDA's work to promote the adoption of international standards and key aspects of food safety modernization, such as outbreak prevention, innovation, traceability, and other components.

The conversation is led by Julie Moss, CFSAN’s Director of the Office of International Engagement (OIE), and Eric Stevens and Kelly McCormick, OIE International Policy Analysts.