The Food Safety Management Training Course, organised under HRD Project Phase 4 in collaboration with the Department of Food Science and Technology of Kasetsart University, was attended by a total of 30 participants, which consisted of 4 public/government agency staff, 4 private company staff, 6 academicians, 15 students from Kasetsart University, and 1 PhD student from Chulalongkorn University. Among them, 9 are international students from the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
The Project collaborated with Kagoshima University, a Japanese certification body recognised by the Japan Food Safety Management Association (JFSM), to conduct an intensive training course for JFS-A/B certification, and two experts from Kagoshima University of Japan and Mae Fah Luang University of Thailand were invited to conduct 2 consecutive trainings, namely Food Safety Training and Audit Training.
The course featured not only lectures but also group work to enrich knowledge on food safety and build Japan Food Safety (JFS) standard auditing skills, as well as food-related regulations and standards. Moreover, examinations were conducted at the end of each training course to measure and evaluate their comprehension and understanding, and upon exam scoring, 30 out of 30 participants finally obtained certificates of JFS-A/B from Kagoshima University.
As conveyed by KU, food safety is a matter of global concern, affecting every link in the food chain from producers and regulators to consumers. In today’s increasingly interconnected world, the need for harmonised food safety practices, effective risk management, and international cooperation has never been more critical. Therefore, through expert-led sessions, real-world case studies, and interactive discussions, KU encourages a learning environment that allows exchanges across disciplines, sectors, and generations, and KU hopes that these learnings could be implemented in participants’ respective institutions and countries.
Following the remark from KU, Mr. Ichiro Abe from MAFF Japan also emphasised that the Japan Food Safety standard learned in the training course is constantly updated to reflect international conditions and approved by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), a global standard. Therefore, he conveyed his hopes for all participants to use the knowledge gained from this programme to contribute to the development of the Thai food industry in various fields, and may the connection established further contribute to deepening the relationship between Thailand and Japan.
