| Markets | Japan, ASEAN |
| Organization | FAO |
| Topic | Food Safety and Security, Trade, market and official controls |
The Asia–Pacific region is growing at an impressive pace: it is home to the highest population numbers and densities, and is a hub for technological advancements. Asia and the Pacific have the potential to lead the future of food and agriculture. However, the levels of country capacities vary widely: an example of this is illustrated by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The grouping is unique, and it has technical clusters specifically dedicated to address common issues and challenges. ASEAN shares with Codex Alimentarius an interest in harmonizing, standardizing and making uniform the elements of food safety control systems. To strengthen ASEAN countries’ capacities to participate in Codex Alimentarius, FAO and ASEAN established a project, funded by the government of Japan, which brought enormous results in the area of food safety. Those results have contributed to improving consumers’ health and to facilitating food trade, and have strengthened the trade between ASEAN and Japan. The impacts of collaboration are now at the service of all. This document summarizes the collaboration to improve the participation of ASEAN countries in Codex Alimentarius.
