World summit in New Delhi to strengthen global food safety The BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment emphasises the importance of science and cooperation
What it's about:
How can we make our food systems more sustainable and resilient and identify risks at an early stage? How can we strengthen science and innovation in food regulation and harmonise political frameworks worldwide? These are just a few of the questions addressed by international experts at the third Global Food Regulators Summit (GFRS). The summit took place from 26 to 27 September 2025 in New Delhi (India) under the leadership of the Indian Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI).
The GFRS serves as an annual platform for the exchange of experiences and best practices in the food sector and facilitates networking among international organisations in this field. Participating organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSAshort forEuropean Food Safety Authority) exchanged views on topics including the promotion of scientific methods and digital tools to improve risk assessment, the strengthening of surveillance, laboratories and testing environments, and food security.
BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment President Andreas Hensel emphasised: “It is important to make global food safety sustainable and to further strengthen it worldwide. Innovative approaches to the traceability of complex supply chains, the early identification of risks and the rapid implementation of effective measures in the event of a crisis are crucial for this. The World Summit highlights the importance of close international cooperation in order to jointly establish scientific foundations.”
Since 2023, the FSSAI has been organising the annual World Summit of Food Safety Authorities on behalf of the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. From 26 to 27 September 2025, representatives of international organisations from the health and food sectors met again this year to exchange experiences and best practices in the field of food safety, among other topics. In addition to the WHO, international organisations such as the FAO and the EFSAshort forEuropean Food Safety Authority were also present in New Delhi. The President of the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Andreas Hensel, also took part in the event at the invitation of the FSSAI.
In a total of eight sessions, participating experts discussed topics such as the global harmonisation of regulations and political frameworks, the integration of science and technology for sustainable and resilient food systems, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in food monitoring, and food security. The early detection and management of risks and the improvement of laboratory infrastructure and testing systems were also an important part of the summit.
BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment President Andreas Hensel spoke about the importance of traceability systems for enforcing food safety and consumer confidence. Heshort forhelium also took part in a panel discussion on traditional foods and global standards.
The German-Indian partnership between the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and the FSSAI was also further intensified during this visit. A joint cooperation agreement between the two institutions has been in place since October 2015, setting the course for future collaboration. Since then, there have been frequent meetings between them, most recently in 2023 and 2025. The discussions focused in particular on food contact materials, biotoxins and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Other Indian institutions with which the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment has been cooperating for years include the Indian Ministry of Agriculture, the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) and the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO).
Further information on German-Indian cooperation is available on the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment website
- Strengthening existing Indo-German cooperation To the communication
- Working with India to improve food safety To the press release