Study on the R&D System for Food Safety

Abstract

R&D has a critical role in food safety control. It provides information on risk assessment required by the WTO and tells how to tackle the food-borne diseases. the present R&D system need to improve according to the following principles. First principle is “Comprehensive Approach”. In order to achieve the goal effectively, not only related Ministries but also research institutes and universities should work under the clear role statement. Second principle is “Focused on the Problem Solving”. R&D on food safety should provide information and knowledge necessary for the decision-making and the intervention in the fields. Third Principle is “Strategic Approach”. Research should conduct based on the comprehensive strategies and step-by-step approaches. According to the above principles the present R&D system for food safety should change in the following ways. First, food safety R&D management system should be built at the Pan government level. At the present, 7 Ministries and agencies are involved in the food safety R&D. Therefore, overlapped or mismatched projects are frequently conducted. In order to solve the problems, Food Safety Policy Commission should coordinate the Pan government food safety R&D strategies. Second, the portfolio in the R&D should change to some extent. The research on the pathogen overlooked in comparison to chemical hazards such as pesticides should be reinforced. Basic research should also be reinforced necessary to achieve the information. Third, the R&D strategies should be focused on scientific and technological issues. The annual plan of the agencies should be excluded. The criteria to classify the research should be developed considering the food safety’s characters. Forth, the principles of the role allocation between policy departments and research institutes, as well as universities and public institutes should be developed. The policy departments should play a role to set up the strategies. The research institutes should conduct the research to find out the targeted information. Fifth, R&D products should be actively opened and circulated. The relevant agencies should input the information into the NTIS(National Science and Technology Information Service) instead of their own database. Sixth, the concept of regulatory science should spread. At present, the researches on food safety is not acknowledged in the scientific societies because they are not the traditional research patterns. Cooperation between governments and scientific organization is required.