PROVISIONAL ANNOTATED AGENDA

1. Opening ceremony of the Conference led by the of Agriculture and Regional Development of Hungary, Mr. András Vonza

2. Keynote address by the Minister of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries of the , Mr. Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst: "Strengthening consumer confidence in food products by improving transparency and reliability of European food chains"

3. Presentation of Working Documents: in the first plenary session working documents will be briefly presented and items will be determined for further discussion.

Two parallel Work Groups will be established for discussions in depth. The Works Groups will report in plenary a record of key elements, including conclusions and recommendations outlined during the Work Group discussions. Discussion papers are being prepared on the following issues:

4. Pan-European co-operation in policy and science advancement a. Food Safety and Quality in Europe - emerging issues and unresolved problems An overview of present food safety and quality threats. A discussion should determine what measures are required to improve confidence of consumers in food products b. Statistics of food-borne disease in Europe. An overview of food-borne disease occurrences c. The condition of food safety and its quality - present status, prospects of change in . Political developments and the upcoming accession to the inspire the country to progress new structures for food safety and quality control d. Examples of comprehensive and integrated approach to risk analysis in the food chain - experiences and lessons learned. It should be determined what efforts are required at national and international level to ensure a more integrated approach to risk analysis e. Institutional and scientific cooperation, networking and capacity building in the field of food safety and quality. Development of institutional and scientific networks may bring about fast building up of high quality knowledge and skills capacity. An investigation of the conditions that make this cooperation work, may help others to expand their networks - 2 -

5. Pan-European co-operation in information and communication development a. Information exchange and networking - an Emerging Risk Identification System for Food safety and Quality. A Pan-European approach to avoid food safety and quality emergencies may require harmonization and commitment in the whole European region b. Information exchange and networking - the Rapid Alert System presently in operation in the European Union and its possible expansion to cover other non-EU countries. It should be investigated how non-EU countries could benefit from this system and be more involved c. An international mechanism of information exchange for food safety, animal and plant health. A centralized database will make legal, technical and scientific information more easily accessible. It should be determined what conditions would make this mechanism useful and feasible d. Consumer information and participation - interactive communication with consumers on food safety and quality. Good communication between consumers, producers and regulators could make consumers more conscious about food safety issues and help producers and regulators to be more aware of consumer priorities.

6. Other matters as proposed by Conference participants

7. Conclusions and recommendations The Conference Secretariat will prepare a draft synopsis of recommendations for discussion

8. Adoption of the Report with Recommendations The final Report will be submitted for adoption and follow-up to the 23rd FAO Regional Conference for Europe (Nicosia, 27 - 31 May 2002) and to the 52nd Meeting of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe (Copenhagen, 16 - 19 September 2002)