The 4th MoniQA International Conference in Budapest, Hungary, 26 February - 01 March 2013 - a great success!

Some 200 participants from some 40 countries attended the 4^th MoniQA International Conference in Budapest, Hungary. The main focus of the conference was "Food Safety under Global Pressure of Climate Change, Food Security and Economic Crises".

Emerging issues and the various aspects of the interrelation between food safety, food security, economy development and globalization were presented and discussed in some 80 oral presentations in 20 technical sessions and close to 80 posters. The 6 keynote speakers at the start and at the end of the conference embedded the conference topics in both a global picture of the current situation as well as gave an expert glimpse into the future. We were proud to have had the following keynote speakers with us:

• Franz Fischler, president of the European Alpbach Forum and former European Union's Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, Austria
  "Impacts of economic crises on food markets and how to make the food production sector sustainable"
• Vish Prakash, Distinguished Scientist of CSIR - India, President ISNNAN, India
  "A sustainable nutrition security through a food security for health and wellness in developing countries by adaptable, accessible and affordable food technologies"
• Eleonora Dupouy, Food Safety and Consumer Protection Officer Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, FAO, Hungary
  "Safe food supply in a globalized world: a sustainable development perspective"
• Elke Anklam, Director, Institute for Health and Consumer Protection, Joint Research Center, ISPRA, Italy
  "Emerging food safety risks and global trade"
• Frans Verstraete, DG SANCO, Belgium
  "Regulating for emerging food safety concerns as regards mycotoxins and phytotoxins"
• Dieter Brigitta, European Commission, DG Research & Innovation, Belgium
  "Horizon 2020 – Future Research for a Safe, Secure and Nutritious Food Supply"

In various pre-conference workshops, young scientists and professionals were able to get in-depth insight and training in various food safety management and risk communication aspects as well as hands-on training in food safety analytical methods. The Young Scientist Forum and a Best Poster Awarding session offered opportunities to present new and ongoing research work. MoniQA would like to congratulate the winners of the 3 Best Poster Awards: Olivia Csernus, Central Environmental and Food Science Research Institute, Hungary, Isabel Mafra, ICETA, Portugal and Ljiljia Torovic, Institute of Public Health of Vojvodina, Serbia which were sponsored by the organisers of the conference MoniQA Association (www.moniqa.org), based in Vienna, Austria, and Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), Hungary together with QAS Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods, the official media partner of the conference.

The 5^th MoniQA International Conference will be held in Porto, Portugal and will be organised by the MoniQA Association together with the MoniQA Association member ICETA - "Instituto de Ciências e Tecnologias Agrárias e Agro-Alimentares da Universidade do Porto".

We look forward to meeting you in Porto in 2015!

Prof. Dr. Roland E. Poms
Secretary General MoniQA Association