INTRODUCTION

1. The 10th Meeting of the ASEAN Cocoa Club Technical Working Group on Food Safety (ACC TWGFS) was held on 24th April 2018 in Hotel Continental Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.

2. The Meeting was officially opened by Dr. Nyuyen Viet Khoa, Head of Training Education Division, National Agriculture Extension Center, Viet Nam. He welcomed all the delegates from the ASEAN Member States (AMS) to Viet Nam. 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 and co-chaired by Mr. Thiet Nguyen Van, Country Manager of UTZ Certificate, Viet Nam.

4. The Meeting was attended by 13 members and observers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Viet Nam, and the Secretariat of the 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 10th Meeting of the ACC TWGFS. The full text of her speech appears as ANNEX III.

AGENDA ITEM 2: ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN

6. Mr. Thiet Nguyen Van, Country Manager of UTZ Certificate, Viet Nam was unanimously elected as the Vice-Chairman of the 10th Meeting of the ACC TWGFS.

AGENDA ITEM 3: ADOPTION OF AGENDA

7. The Meeting adopted the Agenda for the 10th 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 reported on the completion of the Cocoa Safe Project that involved The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea on capacity building and knowledge sharing in Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) for cocoa in Southeast Asia.

10. Malaysia reported on the development of analysis protocol on safety and quality for cocoa based products as follow:
i. Analysis of heavy metal in cocoa beans and cocoa products using inductively coupled plasma-tandem mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS/MS) microwave assisted digestion technique
ii. Analysis of new protocol for Total Plate Count, E. Coli and Yeast and Mold

11. Viet Nam reported on the UTZ certification for Cocoa in Viet Nam. The full presentation appears as ANNEX V.

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

12. Indonesia informed the Meeting that European Union (EU) has published Commission Regulation (EU) No. 488/2014 on 12th May 2014 amending Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006 pertaining to the maximum levels (MLs) of cadmium in foodstuffs including cocoa and chocolate products which will be taken effectively on 1st January 2019 as follow:
i. Milk chocolate with < 30 % total dry cocoa solids: 0.10 mg/kg wet weight
ii. Chocolate with < 50 % total dry cocoa solids; milk chocolate with ≥ 30 % total dry cocoa solids: 0.30 mg/kg wet weight
iii. Chocolate with ≥ 50 % total dry cocoa solids: 0.80 mg/kg wet weight
iv. Cocoa powder sold to the final consumer or as an ingredient unsweetened cocoa powder sold to the final consumer (drinking chocolate): 0.60 mg/kg wet weight

13. Indonesia also informed the Meeting on the progress of the proposed draft MLs for cadmium in chocolate and cocoa-derived products in the 12th Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF) which was held in Utrecht, the Netherlands from 12-16 March 2018. The CCCF agreed:
i. to advance the ML of 0.8 mg/kg for chocolate containing or declaring ≥ 50% to < 70% total cocoa solids on a dry matter basis for final adoption at Step 5/8 by the 41st Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC41);
ii. to advance the ML of 0.9 mg/kg for chocolate containing or declaring ≥ 70% total cocoa solids on a dry matter basis for final adoption at Step 5/8 by CAC41;
iii. to continue work on the category of chocolate and chocolate products containing or declaring < 30%, and ≥ 30% to < 50% total cocoa solids on a dry matter basis and to assess if it is feasible to merge these two categories to derive one ML for chocolate containing or declaring < 50% total cocoa solids on a dry matter basis;
iv. to discontinue work on dry mixtures of cocoa and sugars sold for final consumption
v. to continue work on cocoa powder (100% total cocoa solids on a dry matter basis) taking into consideration MLs established for other product categories. 

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

14. Indonesia reported on the monitoring of cadmium content in cocoa bean, cocoa nibs, cocoa powder and cocoa mass from different locations of Indonesia as follow: cocoa bean (0.25-1.11 ppm); cocoa nibs (0.19 - 0.39 ppm); cocoa powder (0.38 - 0.78 ppm); and cocoa mass (0.45-0.47 ppm).

15. Malaysia reported on the monitoring of cadmium in cocoa beans and cocoa products from different regions of Malaysia. The range of ML for cadmium as follow: cocoa beans (0.06-0.27 ppm), cocoa powder (0.46-0.51 ppm), cocoa liquor (0.15-0.16 ppm), dark chocolate (0.05-0.14 ppm) and milk chocolate (0.01-0.03 ppm).

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

16. In the absence of delegate from Thailand, there was no update on the request for the sensory evaluation training on cocoa and cocoa products from Malaysia and Indonesia.

17. Malaysia noted the interest of Thailand and Philippines for the collaboration of building expertise and knowledge on sensory evaluation. Malaysia, as the lead country for this agenda had proposed to conduct a sensory evaluation training in Malaysia in year 2018 and the details of the training will be uploaded into the ACC TWGFS website. The full presentation appears as ANNEX VI.

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

18. The Chairperson informed Indonesia needed to work out the ASEAN standard for cocoa and cocoa products. Establishment ASEAN standards is one of the activities stipulated in Strategic Plan of Action (SPA) for the Joint Committee on ASEAN Cooperation and Joint Approaches in Agriculture and Forest Products Promotion Scheme (2016-2020). Indonesia will discuss this matter in their national level.

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

19. Malaysia informed the Meeting that Ministry of Health, Malaysia is in the process of amending food regulations pertaining to cocoa and cocoa products (Regulation 274 – 281) under the Food Act 1983 (Act 281) and Food Regulations 1985. The full presentation appears as ANNEX VII.

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. In the absence of delegate from Thailand, there was no update for this agenda.

AGENDA 12: OTHER MATTERS

21. The Secretariat of the ASEAN Cocoa Club informed the Meeting that the Strategic Plan of Action (SPA) for the Joint Committee on ASEAN Cooperation and Joint Approaches in Agriculture and Forest Products Promotion Scheme (2016-2020) was endorsed by the 24th Meeting of the Joint Committee on ASEAN Cooperation in Agriculture and Forest Products Promotion Scheme which was held on 18-20 July 2017 in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

22. The Secretariat of the ACCTWGFS sought the cooperation from the AMS to update the membership of this working group.

AGENDA 14: ADOPTION OF THE REPORT

23. The Meeting unanimously adopted the Report of the 10th Meeting of the ASEAN Cocoa Club Technical Working Group on Food Safety (ACC TWGFS) held on 24th April 2018 in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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

25. The delegates from Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Philippines expressed their sincere appreciation to the government of Viet Nam for the excellent arrangements made for the Meeting and the warm hospitality accorded to them.

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