Gabor Molnar Ph.D.

Organized by UNIDO, the Asia Food Safety Forum will take place June 11–12, 2026 in Bangkok, Thailand, fostering dialogue, promoting innovation, and strengthening regional cooperation to support safer, more sustainable, and more competitive food systems across the region.

At present, food safety systems face many hurdles. The Vienna Food Safety Forum 2025 provides a platform to showcase how new digital solutions efforts can improve food safety surveillance systems and quality assurance practices by deploying technological innovation and collaborative platforms.

This article sheds light on some critical components of successful voluntary third-party assurance (vTPA) program implementation, particularly from an accreditation and certification service perspective. It discusses the role of accreditation and certification services and the prerequisites for successfully implementing the vTPA approach with the aim of supporting competent authorities in this process.