The future of quality assurance and food safety will be explored at the upcoming World Potato Congress, in New Zealand in March 2009.

Terry Olsen, chairman of the congress organising committee, believes the congress is a must for everyone involved in the potato industry. “Food safety and quality assurance is of growing importance to regulators, consumers and retailers,” he said. “The congress will explore how food safety and quality assurance rules will tighten over the next decade and how we can prepare ourselves now for the changes.”

With the theme “Nourishing Our Future,” the Congress will review the latest world developments in crop management, environment and energy issues, food and non-food processing, consumer trends and food safety and quality.

Keynote speaker Nadene Smith from Australasian supermarket giant Woolworths will outline the standards currently required of growers, while Dr Kristian Moeller of GlobalGAP will look to how the world’s largest quality assurance programme will change over the next 10 years.

Other sessions and speakers include:

• Understanding value chains: Martin Kneebone, Freshlogic.com and Dr Andrew Fearne, Centre for Supply Chain Research, Kent Business School, UK

• Impact of climate change: Dr Jim Salinger, an international climate change expert and principal scientist at New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research

• Potatoes for biofuel? Dr William Bailey, Agriculture Department chair, US

For a conference programme or to register, visit http://www.wpcnz.org.nz

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