BEIJING, April 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- PwC China is marking World Health Day today by announcing the establishment of its Food Supply and Integrity Services business to help food companies, investors and governments tackle food security, safety and quality concerns. PwC China's Food Supply and Integrity service offering includes corporate governance, supply chain integrity, fraud prevention, traceability, crisis management, regulatory compliance, and transaction services.
The theme of this year's campaign by the World Health Organisation is improving food safety, which PwC says is a shared responsibility that needs to be taken on by industry, government and service organisations to give people greater trust in their food.
Raymund Chao, PwC China and Asia Pacific Assurance Leader and Chairman-designate said: "Enhancing trust in food is more important than ever in a climate where public confidence has been rocked by food safety failures. This problem is not unique to China or Hong Kong but is a global concern, as evidenced by recent scandals."
Traditionally, food safety problems have been caused by pesticide and veterinary drug residues, heavy metals, and bacterial contamination introduced during production or processing. These can be prevented and controlled by reasonable application of the appropriate food safety system and standards such as GMP and HACCP. Intentional contamination, deliberate tampering, longer supply chains, a complex business environment and corruption are now the most common causes of food safety failures in China and abroad. These new challenges call for new solutions where traditional food safety standards may not be effective.
PwC China is offering its Food Supply and Integrity Services through a strategic alliance with AsureQuality, a New Zealand Government owned food safety and biosecurity company.
"By combining PwC's in-depth assurance and business advisory capabilities, with AQ's deep industry and food safety technical knowledge, we aim to provide the market with solutions that enhance value through brand building and margin improvement while safeguarding safety and quality in a sustainable manner." said Dean Nikora, Group Director, Global Food Trust Alliance of AsureQuality Singapore Pte Ltd.
"Governments and food companies are being challenged like never before as basic fundamentals of trade and food supply are transformed. Globalisation, complex supply chains and the competitive environment are creating food safety and quality risks on an industrial scale. It's a growing problem of risk that we're seeing across industries, but unfortunately food is an area where failures can be fatal." said Mr Chao.
"The nature of today's complex supply chains means a more strategic and innovative approach is needed to improve food trust. Best practice companies are transforming their approach to ensure they have more control and visibility over their supply chains from the farm to the supermarket shelf. They're investing in technological solutions to improve inventory management, traceability and recall management, focusing on food safety culture and going well beyond compliance to improve standards," says Shirley Xie, PwC China Assurance Markets Leader.
Last November, PwC China and PwC New Zealand, together with AsureQuality, signed a cooperation framework agreement with COFCO. As part of the agreement, PwC China, PwC New Zealand and AsureQuality are developing a new integrated food safety and quality framework to assist COFCO. The agreement is the first step in a plan to bring China's food safety to a new level.
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Notes to editors:
About PwC's Food Supply and Integrity Services
For information about World Health Day 2015
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates unsafe food is linked to the deaths of 2 million people annually. WHO is promoting efforts to improve food safety on World Health Day, 7 April 2015. For information, see: http://www.who.int/campaigns/world-health-day/2015/en/
About PwC - Globally
PwC helps organisations and individuals create the value they're looking for. We're a network of firms in 157 countries with more than 195,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax and advisory services. Find out more and tell us what matters to you by visiting us at www.pwc.com.
PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details.
PwC - Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau
PwC China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau work together on a collaborative basis, subject to local applicable laws. Collectively, we have around 620 partners and strength of over 15,000 people.
Providing organisations with the professional service they need, wherever they may be located. Our highly qualified, experienced professionals listen to different points of view to help organisations solve their business issues and identify and maximise the opportunities they seek. Our industry specialisation allows us to help co-create solutions with our clients for their sector of interest.
We are located in these cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenyang, Dalian, Xi'an, Chengdu, Qingdao, Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Taipei, Chungli, Hsinchu, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Tainan, and Macau.
Mainland China: www.pwccn.comn
Hong Kong: www.pwchk.com
About AsureQuality
AsureQuality is a commercial company 100% owned by the New Zealand government, who provides food safety and biosecurity services to the food and primary production sectors worldwide.
Every day its experienced team of 1700 experts based at over 60 locations throughout Australasia and Singapore works alongside customers in over 40 countries to assure the safety and quality of food being produced for millions of people. Their skilled staff and extensive accreditations enable us to audit, inspect, verify and certify food safety and quality and management systems from the farm right through to the supermarket shelf.
