The forum, at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery from November 13 to 15, will address the perception that New Zealand must improve its food safety standards.
It usually meets in Beijing but food integrity consultant Helen Darling persuaded the United States-based non-profit organisation to hold it in New Zealand for the first time.
Dr Darling described it as a ''breakthrough conference'', saying they would be looking at emerging threats.
''New Zealand has been caught out on a number of occasions and the dialogue and interaction will be focused on preventing further issues.
''The timing of the forum is crucial. It is where we can seize the moment to rebuild out image resulting from the damage surrounding our food safety brand,'' she said.
Dr Darling regarded the response from China as significant.
''The delegates represent the dairy and meat industry and they want to see what we do and are interested in using our procedures to improve food safety in China.
''This forum is where dialogue between both ends of the supply chain can take place to improve transparency and integrity,'' she said.
In turn, New Zealand producers must understand what the Chinese, in particular, required of them. The 160 delegates also included visitors from the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
Dr Darling will present a model to the forum that ensures the integrity of food safety products leaving New Zealand. Other keynote speeches will be given by Xiaoming Huang, the director of the New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre, Federated Farmers chief executive Conor English, and representatives from Fonterra, NZTE, the Infant Nutrition Council and Environmental Science and Research.
