Background: The passion of some Asian scientists who believe that food and agriculture science, bio-science, and biotechnology contribute to improvement in the quality of life and welfare and understand the value of laboratory work and direct exchange of ideas and information between experts, entrepreneurs, and government officials would result in positive changes in ensuring food quality and safety. In 2005, the Bangladesh-Japan Association for Science and Technology (BJAST) was founded in Osaka, Japan, and decided to hold workshops every year in Japan with alternative years in Bangladesh. The 5th annual general meeting of BJAST was held at Dhaka on December 26 - 28, 2010, where 14 countries of Asia participated and unanimously decided on the formation of the Asian Food Safety and Security Association (AFSSA). However, after discovering another French Agency for Food Safety (AFSSA) with a similar abbreviation, we modified the acronym to AFSA rather than AFSSA. The Asian Food Safety and Security Association (AFSA) is a non-profit charity organization founded in 2010 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with the following basic goals: 1) To foster practical collaboration among member countries in areas such as climate change, food safety, and food security; 2) To communicate research findings and future research in food safety and security; and 3) To promote Food Safety and Security knowledge for disease prevention and control through training, conferences, workshops, and information distribution via various channels. 4) To assist educational institutions in developing food safety and security expertise by supplying equipment, publications, materials, concepts, and so on. 5) To establish, document, maintain, and communicate standardized Food Safety and Security protocols and procedures; 6) To assist national and regional research activities, as well as to preserve food safety and security, by building the Asian Food Safety and Security Network. 7) To foster strong relationships among Asian countries and to establish links with essential partners and other organizations; 8) To assist in securing funds for students to attend seminars, conferences, and training programs. 9) To launch a journal on food safety and security in Asia, emphasizing current trends and requirements.
To begin, a 20-member board of advisors comprised of notable professionals worldwide and an executive committee comprised of one president, two vice presidents, one general secretary, two joint secretaries, one treasurer, and five members were constituted for a five-year tenure. Following that, a new EC committee was formed every five years following AFSA norms.
AFSA programs: On September 15-17, 2012, the first AFSA conference on food safety and security was held at the Rinku Campus of Osaka Prefecture University in Osaka, Japan. This conference was held at Osaka Prefecture University in Japan. The two-day scientific and poster presentation sessions included four plenary speeches and four keynote talks on food safety and security, five microbial control oral presentations, and five food nutrition oral presentations, as well as 57 posters on food microbiology and its detection that were displayed and discussed, providing multiple opportunities for experts and participants to discuss key food safety and food security issues. Experts from governmental organizations, international organizations, businesses, and universities from many nations might share their ideas, solve difficulties, and debate methods and collaborative projects to improve the world's ongoing efforts to provide safe foods for better health and the environment of the people of developing countries. On August 15-18, 2014, the 2nd AFSA conference was conducted at Dong Nai University of Technology in Bien Hoa City, Vietnam, and this 2nd AFSA conference tackled crucial food safety and food security concerns. The plenary and concurrent sessions addressed the challenges that Asia faces in ensuring food safety in the development of new food products and processing technologies, internationalization of food trade, protection of foods derived from biotechnology, microbiological risks, the emergence of new and antibiotic-resistant pathogens, particularly emerging pathogens, directing research to high-risk areas, focusing intervention, and establishing target risk levels. The two-day scientific and poster presentation sessions gave experts and participants numerous opportunities to debate crucial food safety and security problems. Experts from governmental organizations, international organizations, entrepreneurs, and universities from various countries exchange ideas, address challenges, and discuss strategies and collaborative programs to strengthen ongoing global efforts to deliver safe foods for better health and the environment of developing-country people. The review committee chose 32 articles for publication in the 2nd AFSA proceeding, several of which were published in the Journal of Food and Nutrition Science (JFNS). (http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/jfns).
On September 15-17, 2016, the third AFSA conference was conducted at KIIT University
in Bhubaneswar, India. This bi-annual conference is sponsored by the Asia Pacific
Institute of Food Professionals (APIFP), the International Committee on Food
Microbiology and Hygiene (ICFMH), the University of Dhaka, and KIIT University in
Bhubaneswar, India. At this conference, 170 higher-level research papers from 13
countries were presented, lively debates regarding food safety were held, and 14
articles were chosen for publishing in the 3rd AFSA proceedings.
On August 10-12, 2018, the 4th AFSA conference was held in the Angkor Paradise Hotel
in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This symposium was co-organized by Cambodia's Royal
University of Agriculture and Thailand's Mekong Institute. Asia Pacific Institute of
Food Professionals (APIFP), International Committee on Food Microbiology and Hygiene
(ICFMH), USAID, CIAT Asia Regional Office, Hanoi, Vietnam, Global Knowledge Center
on Crop Biotechnology, ISAAA SEAsia Center, Los Banos, Philippines Horticulture
Innovation Lab and Postharvest Technology Center, UC Davis, USA, and CESAIN, RUA,
Cambodia provided additional support. Many renowned guests and researchers from 18
countries attended the 4th AFSA conference, where 250 higher-level research papers
were presented, heated discussions took place, and only 26 high-quality publications
were published in the conference proceedings.
The 5th AFSA conference on food safety and security was scheduled for September
16-18, 2020, at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. However, because of
the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and the travel embargo, organizing conferences in
2020 and 2021 was impossible. Following that, one of the AFSA EC members sought a
joint international conference in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on November 24-27,
2022. Almost 90% of AFSA members decided to plan the International meetings in
Vietnam collaboratively. As a result, we agreed to conduct the International
Conferences on Food and Agriculture Advanced Technology for Sustainable Development
(FAATSD 2022) at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh (IUH) from November 24-27,
2022. The Asian Food Safety and Security Association (AFSA), the Industrial
University of Ho Chi Minh City (IUH), the Asia-Pacific Institute of Food
Professionals (APIFP), and EcoTech Village are organizing this conference in
collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam. There are 62
high-quality presentations and interactive discussions were given during this
conference, and AFSA Proceedings publish 25 full papers and seven invited pieces of
paper.
The 6th AFSA conference on food safety and security was held on 02-04 October 2024
at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. Department of Food Science and
Technology of Chulalongkorn University will host this conference.
Future perspectives
Our never-ending quest for improved quality of life (QOL) and the welfare of humans
through Agriculture, food-bioscience, and biotechnology calls for a constant flow of
new, creative knowledge. We began our adventure in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2010 and
continually held the conference every two years across Asian countries. This series
of discussions was started by the passions of some scientists in Asia who realize
the value of collaborative work and open communication of ideas and information and
feel that food and agriculture science, bioscience, and biotechnology increase the
quality of life and welfare of people around the world and by holding such
conferences, there is an opportunity for interaction between academics and
businesses, regulatory authorities, students and scientists, non-profit
organizations, international organizations, local entrepreneurs, and industries. In
addition, the following food safety and security trends and challenges should be
resolved.