In order to prevent the spread of new psychoactive substances (NPS) and illegal drugs to protect public health, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA), Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), holds the “2020 APEC International Workshop on Food Safety and Threat from New Psychoactive Substances”, which has been successfully granted by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC). The workshop takes place on September 16, 2020, at National Biotechnology Research Park. Agency representatives, scholars and experts from Japan, Philippines, Korea, Netherlands, France, England, and Taiwan give the lectures on management experiences and application of advanced analytical technology, exchanging the latest analytical technology and concepts. Besides, the workshop opens for foreigners to join through online streaming for the first time. There are over 100 guests from health care, law enforcement, and judiciary circles, to participate in this workshop, which is helpful to promote the international cooperation to prevent the spread of NPS and illegal drugs.

The abuse of NPS continues to be reported, and in recent years, drug dealers attempt to evade inspections and crackdowns, and create more NPS by slightly modifying the chemical structures of existing illegal drugs, which promotes the difficulty for management and screening testing. Besides, there are increasing incidents about illegal food and drugs reported in recent years, such as food and drug adulteration, counterfeit Crestor tablets, and faked Viagra containing analgesic ingredients. The yearly-increasing illegal events become the important public issue, which have already caused health threats and social problems, to be solved.       

TFDA is in cooperation with a number of health agencies, the Customs Administration, and law enforcement, and applies the advanced analytical technologies to prevent the spread of NPS and illegal drugs. The workshop will serve as a platform for participants to exchange views and share the experiences in advanced technologies related to NPS and illicit drugs, which would strengthen domestic analytical ability, and ultimately protect the public health and drug safety.