The World Health Organization (WHO) and ASEAN have put Southeast Asia’s food safety emergency systems through a major regional test, bringing together all 11 ASEAN Member States to assess how effectively countries could detect, coordinate and respond if contaminated food were distributed across national borders.
Held in Jakarta from 7 to 9 July 2026, the Food Safety Emergency Response Tabletop Simulation Exercise brought together food safety and public health authorities to work through a realistic cross-border contamination scenario. The exercise examined whether existing national and regional systems could respond quickly enough to identify the source, trace affected products, share critical information and protect consumers before an isolated incident developed into a wider regional emergency.
The initiative comes amid a substantial public health burden from unsafe food. WHO reported that foodborne illnesses are responsible for more than 426 million illnesses and 1.5 million deaths annually across the Asia-Pacific region, reinforcing the need for coordinated systems capable of responding rapidly when food safety threats cross borders.
All 11 ASEAN Member States Participate in Regional Exercise
The Jakarta simulation represented a significant regional effort to test food safety preparedness collectively rather than examining individual national systems in isolation.
Participants were presented with a scenario involving a contaminated food product that had moved across borders and caused illnesses in multiple countries. Authorities then had to consider how their existing emergency procedures would operate under real-world pressure.
The exercise tested several critical areas, including laboratory and epidemiological systems, risk assessment, public and risk communication, product traceability and recall procedures.
By simulating a multinational incident, the programme allowed participating countries to identify weaknesses in communication and decision-making before those weaknesses are exposed during an actual emergency.
Food Safety Is Increasingly a Regional Issue
Modern food supply chains mean that contamination originating in one location can quickly become an international concern.
Food products and ingredients regularly move through multiple countries before reaching consumers, while e-commerce and online marketplaces have created additional channels through which products can be distributed rapidly.
For ASEAN, where economic integration continues to deepen and cross-border trade is central to regional growth, effective food safety systems are therefore important not only for protecting public health but also for maintaining consumer confidence, trade continuity and resilient food supply chains.
WHO notes more broadly that safe food supplies support national economies, trade and tourism, while contaminated food contributes to disease and malnutrition and places additional pressure on health systems.
Connecting National, ASEAN and Global Alert Systems
A major objective of the exercise was testing how different layers of the food safety response architecture communicate with one another.
Participants examined information-sharing pathways linking public health authorities and food safety agencies with National Focal Points under the International Health Regulations (IHR) and Emergency Contact Points within the International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN).
The exercise also examined how these international mechanisms connect with ASEAN’s own regional infrastructure, particularly the ASEAN Risk Assessment Centre for Food Safety (ARAC) and the ASEAN Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (ARASFF).
Creating stronger connections between national, regional and international systems could shorten the time required to identify emerging threats and coordinate responses when contaminated products have already crossed borders.
Rapid Information Sharing Can Limit Exposure
Speed is critical during food safety emergencies.
Once authorities identify a potentially contaminated product, information must move quickly between laboratories, public health agencies, food regulators and neighbouring countries.
Faster communication can help authorities determine where products have been distributed, issue appropriate public warnings and remove unsafe items from circulation before additional consumers are exposed.
The simulation therefore placed significant emphasis on whether existing communication systems could function effectively when information was incomplete, evolving or spread across multiple jurisdictions.
WHO’s International Health Regulations benchmarks similarly identify surveillance, national emergency planning, designated INFOSAN contacts and effective multisectoral communication as important components of countries’ capacity to respond to foodborne disease and contamination events.
Exercise Identifies Areas for Further Improvement
While the simulation demonstrated progress across ASEAN, evaluators also identified areas requiring further strengthening.
Many participating countries already have multisectoral mechanisms for responding to food safety emergencies. However, some Member States are still developing or finalising their national response plans.
The exercise team identified several priorities for continued improvement, including stronger coordination mechanisms, clearer roles and responsibilities, more clearly defined operational triggers for activating emergency responses, further technical capacity development and regular joint exercises.
Evaluators also highlighted challenges surrounding public risk communication, particularly when authorities must communicate before all facts about an incident are known.
Managing misinformation was identified as another concern, alongside the practical challenge of rapidly removing unsafe food from both traditional markets and online platforms.
Partnerships Strengthen Regional Preparedness
The exercise was hosted by Indonesia’s Food and Drug Authority (BPOM) with support from the ASEAN Secretariat, while several regional and international technical partners contributed expertise.
These included the Southeast Asian Food and Agricultural Science and Technology Centre (SEAFAST), the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in its role as the newly designated WHO Collaborating Centre for Food Safety Emergencies, the UK Health Security Agency and WHO.
The activity was supported by the Quadripartite partnership involving FAO, UNEP, WHO and WOAH through the ASEAN-UK Health Security Partnership’s Pillar 3 Project.
This broad participation reflects the increasingly multisectoral nature of food safety, which can involve human health, agriculture, environmental conditions, international trade, laboratory science and regulatory enforcement simultaneously.
Translating Global Food Safety Strategy Into Practice
According to WHO, the simulation translated elements of the WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety 2022–2030 into practical action by testing emergency response systems, IHR food safety capacities and regional collaboration mechanisms.
Indonesia’s BPOM Chairperson Professor Taruna Ikrar also emphasised that biological, chemical and environmental hazards require systems capable of rapid detection, timely information sharing, science-based risk assessment and coordinated regional responses.
His message underscored a fundamental reality for ASEAN: a cross-border food safety emergency cannot be effectively addressed by a single authority or country acting independently.
From Food Safety to Broader ASEAN Health Security
The exercise carries significance beyond food regulation alone.
ASEAN’s highly connected economies mean that an emergency affecting food production or distribution could have consequences for public health, consumer confidence, tourism, agriculture and cross-border commerce.
Strengthening preparedness before an emergency occurs can therefore contribute to the region’s broader health and economic resilience.
Regular simulation exercises are particularly valuable because they allow governments to discover weaknesses without the human and economic consequences of an actual outbreak.
WHO’s exercise team stressed that testing systems can lead to revised procedures, updated plans, new ways of working and stronger solidarity among participating authorities.
Looking Ahead
The Jakarta simulation represents another step towards building a more coordinated ASEAN food safety architecture capable of responding to threats that do not respect national borders.
The next challenge will be translating lessons from the exercise into stronger operational readiness — including completing national emergency plans where necessary, clarifying responsibilities, improving communication between IHR and INFOSAN focal points, strengthening technical capabilities and conducting further joint exercises.
As Southeast Asia’s food markets become increasingly interconnected, effective food safety will depend not simply on each country’s individual regulatory strength, but on how quickly ASEAN Member States can detect threats, exchange information and act together.
By testing those systems before a real crisis occurs, ASEAN and its partners are strengthening an essential layer of regional health security — one designed to ensure that a local food contamination incident can be identified and contained before it develops into a regional emergency.
