INTRODUCTION

• The Ninth Meeting of the ASEAN Cocoa Club Technical Working Group on Food Safety (ACC TWGFS) was held on 16th May 2017 in De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines.
• The Meeting was officially opened by Mr. Edward F. David, President of the Cocoa Foundation of the Philippines Inc. (CocoaPhil), Philippines.  He welcomed all the delegates present from the ASEAN Member States (AMS) to Philippines. 
• The Meeting was chaired by Dr. Sabariah Samsudin, Director of the Cocoa Downstream Technology Division, Malaysian Cocoa Board, Malaysia and co-chaired by Mr. Dominador Calvez, Vice-President and Corporate Secretary, Cocoa Foundation of the Philippines, Inc. (CocoaPhil), Philippines.
• The Meeting was attended by 11 members and observers from Malaysia, Philippines, and the Secretariat of the ACC and ACC TWGFS.  The list of delegates appears as ANNEX I.

AGENDA ITEM 1: WELCOMING REMARKS

• 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 9th Meeting of the ACC TWGFS.  In her welcoming remarks, she sought a full commitment from all the AMS to expedite the harmonization of standards for cocoa and cocoa products as the development of ASEAN standards for cocoa and cocoa products remains slow.  The full text of her speech appears as ANNEX II.

AGENDA ITEM 2: ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN

• Mr. Dominador Calvez, Vice-President and Corporate Secretary, Cocoa Foundation of the Philippines, Inc. (CocoaPhil), Philippines was unanimously elected as the Vice-Chairperson of the 9th Meeting of the ACC TWGFS.

AGENDA ITEM 3: ADOPTION OF AGENDA

• The Meeting adopted the Agenda for the 9th Meeting of the ACC TWGFS which appears as ANNEX III.

AGENDA ITEM 4: BUSINESS ARRANGEMENT

• 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

• Philippines informed the Meeting on the Cacao Traceability for Sustainability project with the objective to improve the livelihood of cacao farmers, and good agriculture practice from post-harvest to storage and handling in helping the farmers improve the quality of cacao beans.
• Malaysia reported on the monitoring quality of Malaysian cocoa beans and cocoa powder.  The full report appears as ANNEX IV.

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

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

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

• Malaysia reported on the cadmium level in Malaysian cocoa beans and cocoa powder.  The range of cadmium was from non-detectable to 0.47 ppm and from non-detectable to 0.43 ppm in Malaysian cocoa beans and cocoa powder respectively which are in compliance with Malaysia Food Act 1983 and Regulation 1985.

AGENDA 8:  STATUS REPORT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF DATABASE ON FOOD SAFETY

• The ACC TWGFS Secretariat informed the Meeting on the current status of the uniform resource locator (URL) for the AMS food safety website which can be hyperlinked from the ACC TWGFS website.  It was noted that Indonesia, Lao PDR and Myanmar yet to provide URL for their food safety website which can be hyperlinked from the ACC TWGFS website.
• The Chairperson informed the Meeting that in order to maintain the database, it shall be at least four countries to contribute into the database as mutually agreed by AMS during the 8th ACC TWGFS Meeting.  The Meeting noted that there was no feedback from the AMS; therefore, agreed to remove the food safety database from the ACC TWGFS website and dropped this agenda in the next meeting.   

AGENDA 9: ASEAN MEMBER STATES (AMS) COLLABORATION ON EXPERTISE, KNOWLEDGE AND RESOURCES (LABORATORY TESTING EQUIPMENT/ FACILITIES, ETC.)

• 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.
• Malaysia, as the lead country, had presented the Malaysian Cocoa Board Analytical Services Laboratory.  The full presentation appears as ANNEX V.
• Philippines informed the Meeting that they need to establish the sensory evaluation panels for cocoa and cocoa products, and the analytical services provided by the Malaysian Cocoa Board Analytical Services Laboratory; however, they need to have discussion at their national level.

AGENDA 10:  ESTABLISHMENT OF ASEAN STANDARDS RELATED TO COCOA AND COCOA PRODUCTS

• In the absence of delegate from Indonesia, there was no discussion under this agenda.

AGENDA 11: PRESENTATION ON FOOD SAFETY STANDARD AND REGULATION RELATED TO COCOA AND COCOA PRODUCTS

• Malaysia informed the Meeting on the amendment of Regulation 2 and Regulation 19 under Malaysia Food Act 1983 and Regulation 1985 pertaining to food additives.  The full presentation appears as ANNEX VI.    

AGENDA 12: 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)

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

AGENDA 13: OTHER MATTERS

• The Meeting noted that the changes of the non-technical member from Malaysia. Mdm. Harnie Hj. Harun is replacing Datin Norhaini Udin; both from the Malaysian Cocoa Board.
• The Secretariat of the ASEAN Cocoa Club informed the Meeting on the new format of the Strategic Plan of Action (SPA) for the Joint Committee on ASEAN Cooperation and Joint Approaches in Agriculture and Forest Products Promotion Scheme (2016-2019).
• Philippines informed the Meeting on the changes of technical member from Philippines, Ms. Karen Kristine Roscom from the Department of Agriculture, Philippines and will provide the nominee to the secretariat.

AGENDA 14: ADOPTION OF THE REPORT

• The Meeting unanimously adopted the Report of the Ninth Meeting of the ASEAN Cocoa Club Technical Working Group on Food Safety (ACC TWGFS) held on 16th May 2017 in Manila, Philippines.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

• The Chairperson of the ACC TWGFS expressed her gratitude and thanks to all delegates for their active participation in the Meeting.
• The delegates from Malaysia and Philippines expressed their sincere appreciation to the government of Philippines and De La Salle University for the excellent arrangements made for the Meeting and the warm hospitality accorded to them.
• The Meeting was held in the traditional spirit of ASEAN cordiality and solidarity.