Over 250 delegates convened in Nairobi for the three-day World Food Safety Day Commemoration Summit, whose theme was ‘’Food Standards Save Lives’’. Held from June 5-7.   The event’s culmination was the signing of a communiqué committing to enhance investments, foster strategic partnerships, and promote collaborations to establish and operationalize functional and resilient national food control systems that safeguard consumers’ health and promote safe trade. The communiqué was signed by the African Union (AU), the East African Community, the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS), development partners, food producers and processors, marketers, and consumers on June 7, during the World Food Safety Day celebrations.

The main objectives of the summit included: i) raising awareness of the importance of food safety and promoting action to prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks; ii) providing a platform for sharing experiences and best practices on implementation and compliance with food safety standards and measures; and iii) fostering collaboration and partnerships among stakeholders to amplify the impact of food safety interventions in Africa.

Key highlights of the agreed communiqué was a commitment to:

• Enhance participation in international standard-setting bodies to allow AU Member States to contribute effectively to the development of standards.
• Increase investment in food safety, including capacity-building for value-chain actors to manage risk and ensure compliance with food standards.
• Improve surveillance and monitoring systems includes improving laboratory capacity, data collection, analysis, and reporting.
• Promote research on food safety focused on developing new technologies, methodologies, and best practices to enhance food safety management systems & mitigate foodborne risks.
• Support regional and national food safety policies, frameworks, and strategies implementation. 
• Foster regional and continental collaboration among AU Member States to enhance food safety practices, facilitate trade, and establish partnerships.