That has been a recurring theme of the Global Food Safety Forum in Dunedin this week, along with discussions about collaboration, organiser Helen Darling said yesterday.
While there had been talk about recent problems that New Zealand had experienced, such as the Fonterra contamination scare, there was a desire to ''move on''.
The timing of the three-day event, although coincidental, had been perfect, Dr Darling, a food integrity consultant, said.
The conference usually met in Beijing but she persuaded the United States-based non-profit organisation to hold it in New Zealand for the first time.
GFSF has a diverse membership of multinational companies in the global food chain, Chinese companies, US State Department of Agriculture and trade associations.
Its focus is on the global food chain and its committee centres on creating and validating multi-industry standards, tightening certification procedures, offering training workshops and advancing quality controls.
While there had been some ''quite serious'' logistical issues in bringing a US-centric, Chinese-based event to Dunedin - ''just even the logistics of communication'' - it had been worthwhile, Dr Darling said.
There had only been four months to organise the conference but she knew Dunedin would rally. People and organisations had mobilised very quickly and the attitude had been ''incredibly supportive and humbling''.
She was pleased to see local businesses like Harraways, Oritain, AbacusBio and the New Zealand Honey Company attending, along with international speakers.
Rick Gilmore, founder and chairman of the Global Food Safety Forum, who was highly respected in food safety and security around the world, offered a very global perspective.
The conference could become an annual event in Dunedin, she said.
