In December 2018, a UN General Assembly resolution proclaimed 7 June the World Food Safety Day.
The Renmin Ribao published SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov's article dedicated to Food Safety Day outlining the SCO's efforts to ensure the sanitary and epidemiological welfare of the population, as well as biological and food safety.
In his article, Mr Norov focused on the workings of the relevant SCO mechanisms engaged in collaboration in the above areas, laws regulating their operation, and the SCO's cooperation with the specialised international agencies.
He emphasised that it was a priority for any country to provide its population with healthy food and to combat food-related diseases. "According to the World Health Organisation, food infections and food-related diseases kill about three million people per year all over the world, whereas the number of registered contagion cases amounts to nearly 600 million per year," he wrote.
He stressed the importance of using the SCO's potential to ensure the sanitary and epidemiological welfare of the population, as well as biological and food safety in the SCO space.
In conclusion, Mr Norov pointed to the need to evolve effective approaches to food safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. He made it clear that the SCO, pursuant to the WHO recommendations, was concentrating on maintaining people's health and security, including those of specialists involved in the food industry and supply chains of decisive importance for normal life amid the pandemic.
In December 2018, the UN General Assembly, based on a WHO and FAO initiative, issued Resolution A/RES/73/250 proclaiming 7 June the World Food Safety Day.
The first World Food Safety Day was marked on 7 June 2019.
By instituting World Food Safety Day, the UN aimed at drawing the states' attention to healthy nutrition problems and the quality of food products.
Source: Renmin Ribao