INTRODUCTION

1. The 11th Meeting of the ASEAN Cocoa Club Technical Working Group on Food Safety (ACC TWGFS) was held on 15th July 2019 in Pulse Grande Hotel, Putrajaya, Malaysia.

2. The Meeting was officially opened by Dr. Ramle bin Hj. Kasin, Deputy Director General (Operation), Malaysian Cocoa Board. He welcomed all the delegates from the ASEAN Member States (AMS) to Malaysia. The full text of his speech appears as ANNEX I.

3. The Meeting was chaired by Dr. Sabariah Samsudin, Director of the Cocoa Downstream Technology Division, Malaysian Cocoa Board, Malaysia.

4. The Meeting was attended by 11 members and observers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Secretariat of the ASEAN Cocoa Club (ACC) and ACC TWGFS. The list of delegates appears as ANNEX II.

AGENDA ITEM 1: WELCOMING REMARKS

5. The Chairperson of the ACC TWGFS, Dr. Sabariah Samsudin, Director of Cocoa Downstream Technology Division, Malaysian Cocoa Board (MCB) delivered her welcoming remarks for the 11th Meeting of the ACC TWGFS. The full text of her speech appears as ANNEX III.

AGENDA ITEM 2: ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN

6. The Meeting was unanimously agreed not to appoint the Vice-Chairman of the 11th Meeting of the ACC TWGFS.

AGENDA ITEM 3: ADOPTION OF AGENDA

7. The Meeting adopted the Agenda for the 11th Meeting of the ACC TWGFS appears as ANNEX IV.

AGENDA ITEM 4: BUSINESS ARRANGEMENT

8. The Meeting was held in plenary.

AGENDA ITEM 5: REPORT ON THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE COUNTRY’S INITIATIVES RELATIVE TO FOOD SAFETY ON COCOA AND COCOA PRODUCTS AND RELATED ACTIVITIES

9. Indonesia informed the Meeting that Indonesia had hosted the 13th Session of The Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on 29th April-3rd May 2019.

10. Indonesia also informed the Meeting that Indonesia had complied to the Codex Standard for Cocoa and Cocoa Products and had implemented regulation for food safety through National Food Survaillance Agency Decree Number 23 / 2017.

11. Malaysia reported on the development of analysis protocol on safety and quality for cocoa based products as follow:

i. Analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in cocoa beans and cocoa products using Gas Chromatography coupled to Tandem Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS/MS) technique.
ii. Detection of Salmonella using Compact Dry ‘Nissui’ technique.

AGENDA ITEM 6: STATUS REPORT ON THE FOOD SAFETY REQUIREMENTS IMPOSED BY IMPORTING COUNTRIES

12. Indonesia informed the Meeting that European Union (EU) has imposed regulation on Cadmium contamination effectively on 1st January 2019 for cocoa and cocoa products. However, if an exporting country has complied with Codex regulation, the EU cannot limit the export of cocoa and cocoa products to EU region. This was informed in the EU-Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) Meeting in May 2019.

13. Malaysia informed the meeting that Japan had notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the draft amendments to the maximum residue levels (MRLs) for the agricultural chemical: chlorpyrifos in certain commodities including cacao beans (Document no. : G/SPS/N/JPN/641) from 0.05 to 0.01 mg/kg. The due date for public comment is 2nd August 2019.

AGENDA 7: REPORT ON THE ISSUES OF IMPORTANCE RELATED TO FOOD SAFETY

14. Indonesia reported on the monitoring programme for cadmium, lead and ochratoxin in four (4) provinces namely Central Sulawesi, South East Sulawesi, West Sulawesi and South Sulawesi in 2019 and will continue monitoring those contaminants in the following years. The results will be reported in the next meeting.

15. Malaysia reported on the monitoring of cadmium in cocoa beans and cocoa products from different regions of Malaysia. The range of maximum level (ML) for cadmium as follow: cocoa beans (0.28-0.70 mg/kg), cocoa powder (0.24-0.47 mg/kg), cocoa liquor (0.11-0.41 mg/kg), dark chocolate (0.04-0.07 mg/kg) and milk chocolate (0.06-0.14 mg/kg).

AGENDA 8: ASEAN MEMBER STATES (AMS) COLLABORATION ON EXPERTISE, KNOWLEDGE AND RESOURCES (LABORATORY TESTING EQUIPMENT/ FACILITIES, ETC.)

16. Malaysia as the lead country for this agenda had scheduled a ‘Basic Course in Sensory Evaluation of Cocoa 2018’ on 23rd-24th October 2018 as proposed in the 10th ACC TWGFS Meeting. Nevertheless, it is not conducted due to no participation from the AMS except Malaysia. The brochure of the sensory course is attached in ANNEX V.

AGENDA 9: ESTABLISHMENT OF ASEAN STANDARDS RELATED TO COCOA AND COCOA PRODUCTS

17. Indonesia, as the lead country for this agenda, informed the Meeting that Indonesia proposed to develop ‘The ASEAN Standard on Food Safety for Cocoa and Cocoa Products’ and the draft will be submitted to the Secretariat of the ACC TWGFS to be circulated to the AMS for comments.

AGENDA 10: PRESENTATION ON FOOD SAFETY STANDARD AND REGULATION RELATED TO COCOA AND COCOA PRODUCTS

18. Malaysia informed the Meeting that Ministry of Health, Malaysia is in the process of legal scrubbing for the amending food regulations pertaining to cocoa and cocoa products (Regulation 274 - 277 and 279 - 281) under the Food Act 1983 (Act 281) and Food Regulations 1985. The full presentation appears as ANNEX VI.

19. Malaysia informed the meeting on the Malaysian Standard (MS) as follows:

i. MS 1715:2018 Chocolate and Chocolate Products - Specification (Second Revision)
ii. MS 1819:2018 Chocolate Confectionery - Specification (First Revision)

AGENDA 11: INFORMATION SHARING OF MUTUAL RECOGNITION AGREEMENT (MRA) PERTAINING TO COCOA AND COCOA PRODUCTS IN ASEAN CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS AND QUALITY PREPARED FOODSTUFF PRODUCT WORKING GROUP (ACCSQ PFPWG)

20. Thailand informed the Meeting there was no update for this agenda.

AGENDA 12: OTHER MATTERS

21. 21. There were no other matters discussed in the Meeting.

AGENDA 14: ADOPTION OF THE REPORT

22. The Meeting unanimously adopted the Report of the 11th Meeting of the ASEAN Cocoa Club Technical Working Group on Food Safety (ACC TWGFS) held on 15th July 2019 in Putrajaya, Malaysia.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

23. The Chairperson of the ACC TWGFS expressed her gratitude and thanks to all delegates for their active participation in the Meeting.

24. The delegates from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand expressed their sincere appreciation to the government of Malaysia for the excellent arrangements made for the Meeting and the warm hospitality accorded to them.

25. The Meeting was held in the traditional spirit of ASEAN cordiality and solidarity.