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Shaping a Path Forward for Harmonization of Food Regulatory Requirements in the Arab Region – Leveraging international experiences

With the ongoing trend of food regulatory harmonization and convergence in parts of the world trading heavily with the Arab region – driven by free trade agreements such as the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AcFTA) and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) – it is more imperative than ever that the Arab food regulatory jurisdictions enhance their efforts for the convergence of food regulatory measures in order to create a competitive advantage for food and agrifood producers of the region and stimulate efforts of intra-regional trade.
A panel discussion is planned on the margin of Gulfood2021 held in Dubai from the 21-25 February 2021, gathering food regulators from the region, and beyond, as well as representatives from academic, metrology and standardization institutions and food producers to discuss:

  • Recent progress and on-going challenges faced by the Arab region in adopting international food standards and fostering convergence of their food regulatory systems
  • On-going initiative of food regulatory enhancements and contribution of various stakeholders to their success
  • On-going efforts of contribution of Arab food regulators to international standard setting activities under the auspices of the Codex Alimentarius Commission
  • Lessons learnt and experiences followed by other parts of the world to draw upon to enhance coordination, collaboration and convergence of positions of Arab Food Regulators.

Hosted during the proceedings of GulfFood2021 and co-organized by the Dubai Municipality, this session is supported by the Food and Beverage Regulations Committee of Dubai – Amcham a member of the global network of American chambers of commerce and by the Global Food Regulatory Science Society (GFoRSS), a not-for-profit organization hosted by the Food Risk and Regulatory Excellence Platform (PARERA) of Laval University, Quebec, Canada and by the Dubai Municipality.

The program of the session can be found here and the members of the panel session can be found here.

Participants may register and join through: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eHAHpo1nRJW3jZkbsuC13A

24 February 2021 – 9:30 to 11:30 AM Dubai time

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