The Australian Shellfish Quality Assurance Advisory Committee (ASQAAC)* saw and supported the need to host the international premier shellfish safety event, ICMSS, in Australia. ASQAAC aim to deliver a ‘cutting edge’ programme focussed on shellfish safety and related disciplines and encourages participation from a broad range of national and international experts and students. ICMSS is the principal shellfish safety event worldwide for industry, government regulators and researchers to share knowledge and experience on shellfish safety issues. ASQAAC won a bid in June 2009 at ICMSS, France 2009 to return the 9th ICMSS Conference to Sydney, Australia where it was initiated in 1994.
ASQAAC's aim is not to profiteer from hosting the conference but to include as many international experts, local industry and students as possible with the aim of;
• Limiting the health risks associated with microbiological, marine biotoxin and other chemical contamination of shellfish;
• Improvement of effective and efficient management procedures and detection tools to prevent and/or monitor shellfish contamination; and
• Promotion of international harmonisation of shellfish safety standards and regulations.
From a global perspective Australia has an admirably healthy marine environment with respect to potential seafood safety risks, this has resulted in ‘high quality safe-to-eat’ shellfish. The relatively low shellfish safety risk in Australia has promoted the uptake of risk-based shellfish safety management practices, pragmatic regulation and innovative approaches.
Hosting the ICMSS provides a unique opportunity to showcase Australia's point of difference, particularly in discussions of international program harmonisation, and promote the Australian shellfish safety sector as well as the Australian seafood industry in general.
* ASQAAC is a collaborative tripartite relationship between regulators, industry and researchers and is a national forum to identify and solve emerging food safety challenges and promote national consistency.
Final report
The International Conference of Molluscan Shellfish Safety (ICMSS) is the principal shellfish safety event worldwide for industry, government regulators and researchers to share knowledge and experience on shellfish safety issues. Australian Shellfish Quality Assurance Advisory Committee (ASQAAC) won a bid in June 2009 at ICMSS, France to return the 9th ICMSS Conference to Sydney, Australia where it was initiated in 1994. ASQAAC aimed to deliver a ‘cutting edge’ programme focused on shellfish safety and related disciplines and encouraged participation from a broad range of national and international experts and students.
The conference aimed to assist the industry to respond to, and take advantage of, increased demand for seafood. Continued delivery of a quality product requires the industry to responsibly address latest shellfish safety information in the context of the Australian production environment.
