US: Grocery manufacturers welcome supply initiative

US grocery manufacturers have welcomed the establishment of an initiative that aims to improve the safety of increasingly global food supplies.

Speaking at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference last week in Singapore, Robert Brackett, chief science officer of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), applauded the founding of the Partnership Training Institute Network (PTIN) established under the APEC sub-committee on standards and conformance.

"The Grocery Manufacturers Association has been the leading voice on behalf of the food and beverage industry in calling for reforms that will help improve food safety of our global food supply," said Brackett.

"And that is why GMA and our member companies are very pleased to be playing an active role in the Partnership Training Institute Network (PTIN). The Partnership Training Institute Network (PTIN) for food safety will help improve the safety and security of the food supply by providing growers, manufacturers and regulators in the Asia-Pacific region with education and training that is consistent with International best practices."

The PTIN is not intended to be a "bricks and mortar" facility, the GMA said, but instead will build upon existing resources in the region to create a network of institutes with the capacity to conduct training in international best practices in food safety.

PTIN activities could include training in areas such as: supply chain management, good agricultural practices, good aquacultural practices, commercially-sterile packaged foods, WTO sanitary/phytosanitary measures, food safety risk analysis, and good manufacturing practices.

"The PTIN is another example of how the food industry is fully committed to working cooperatively with government and other stakeholders to enhance and modernize the global food safety system," Brackett said.

"Combined with food safety legislation just passed by the US House of Representatives that places prevention as the cornerstone of our food safety system and increased industry vigilance, the PTIN will help modernise our food safety system and bolster consumer confidence in the safety and security of the food supply globally."