Conference Details

• How to be involved in the Regional Conference on Food Safety for the Americas and the Caribbean
• Conference Venue
• Visa information
• Conference Information  
• Conference Registration Form     

How to be involved in the Regional Conference on Food Safety for the Americas and the Caribbean

Attendance at the Conference

This Conference is an inter-governmental conference, open only to delegates designated by the invited countries. Interested participants must be included in the delegation (5 delegates per country) from their country of nationality or as an observer from a FAO/WHO member country not in the region or as an observer (2 observers per organization allowed) from one of the organizations invited to the Conference. A downloadable registration form for the conference will be accessible from this website as soon as it is available.

Preparatory process

Two preparatory meetings have been held with representatives of the Member countries of the region to provide the joint FAO/WHO Secretariat with guidance on the content and logistical details of the Conference so that the event will accurately reflect the current issues and challenges facing the food safety regulators of the region. These meetings have identified and further detailed six themes to be addressed at the Conference (See Annex 2 of report of the second preparatory meeting). Various countries of the region have agreed to prepare a paper and lead discussion on each of the six themes in the Conference plenary sessions indicated in the notes on the provisional agenda. Working group discussions will be held on those themes or topics which will be identified as best lending themselves to the development of a practical food safety action plan that could be considered for the region.

National preparatory task forces

Delegates at the preparatory meetings recognized the importance of prior preparation at the national level to enhance the quality of the participation of the countries of the Conference. Information has been sent through the FAO representatives in each member country of the Americas and Caribbean region, encouraging the member countries to establish national preparatory task forces to prepare each country for participation in the Conference.

The "Suggested task list for national task force for conference preparation" contains more information on the suggested tasks and working details of the national task forces.

Preparation of Conference Room Documents

Countries of the region and invited organizations are encouraged to submit Conference Room Documents (CRDs) on specific issues of national interest that are related to the themes of the Conference. The guidelines for the submission of CRDs are also available from the documents page of the Conference website. The chairman of each session at the Conference may give the floor to some delegations to briefly present the main points of their paper during the appropriate Conference session. All the CRDs received from the member governments which follow the indicated guidelines will be made available on the Conference website and to the participants at the Conference itself. In addition, delegations may utilize the content of their Conference Room Document in their interventions on the relevant Conference theme. CRDs can only be accepted from member countries and organizations invited to the Conference.

Conference Venue

The Conference will be held at the Corobici Hotel in San Jose, Costa Rica. More details on the Conference hotels and other information will be provided here as soon as it is available.