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Bill Marler will be honored as a Distinguished Contributor when the China International Food Safety & Quality Conference opens in Shanghai on Oct. 28. The 20th annual conference will also recognize food safety figures and organizations from China and abroad; details of the ceremony schedule were not provided.
Seattle food safety attorney Bill Marler is to be honored as a Distinguished Contributor at the 20th China International Food Safety & Quality Conference, which opens Oct. 28 in Shanghai. The recognition places Marler among this year’s honorees at an international gathering focused on food safety and quality.
Food Safety News reported Oct. 27 that Marler, a food safety attorney and publisher of the outlet, will receive the distinction at the conference. The report identifies him as a Seattle-based lawyer whose work has included speaking at the event since its early years. It does not give further details about the award’s selection process or the precise timing of the presentation.
Other people named as Distinguished Contributors are Wu Yongning, chief scientist at China’s National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment and director of a National Health Commission food safety risk assessment laboratory, and Cindy Jiang, a global food safety ambassador and former senior director of global food safety at McDonald’s.
The conference will also recognize Ge Zhirong, its honorary chairman and a former deputy director of China’s quality supervision and quarantine administration, and Chen Junshi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and chief adviser to the food safety risk assessment center, for distinguished leadership. The International Association for Food Protection is listed as distinguished global host. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, European Food Safety Authority, Germany’s Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and Shanghai JS Life Sciences Institute are named as distinguished supporters.
Why Cross-Border Food Safety Talks Matter
The award spotlights the role of international exchange in food safety, an area where ingredients and finished products may move across borders before a hazard is detected. Investigating an outbreak or tracing a contaminated product can involve regulators, scientists and companies in multiple countries. The conference brings people from those groups together, according to the source report.
Marler’s work as a plaintiff-side food safety attorney also gives him a perspective on how consumers seek accountability after foodborne illness. His scheduled recognition is not, by itself, evidence of a change in policy or a formal endorsement of any particular legal approach. It marks his contribution to the conference and the wider food safety field as described by the organizers and reported by Food Safety News.
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Marler’s Two-Decade Conference Connection
Marler traced his connection to the event to the 2007 melamine pet food recalls, according to Food Safety News. He said someone told him that China’s quality and quarantine agency, then known as AQSIQ, was launching a conference in Beijing. After contacting the organizers, he was offered a keynote speaking slot if his law firm, Marler Clark, became the conference’s platinum sponsor. The firm agreed and continued sponsoring the event, the report says.
At the first conference that September, Marler delivered a keynote titled “The Legal Costs of Foodborne Illness.” He returned the following year with a presentation on how U.S. consumers hold producers accountable through civil litigation, as a melamine-tainted infant formula scandal was unfolding. The 2026 meeting is the conference’s 20th year and is scheduled to open in Shanghai on Oct. 28.
“I said then that Chinese food safety officials were doing exactly the right thing by inviting people from around the world to come and share what they knew. I still think so.”
— Bill Marler, as quoted by Food Safety News
Award Ceremony Details Still Pending
The report confirms the planned recognition and the conference opening date, but does not specify when the award ceremony will take place, whether Marler will attend in person, or whether he will give a speech. It also does not explain how Distinguished Contributors are selected or provide the conference’s full program.
The available information describes the event as scheduled to open on Oct. 28; it does not report on sessions or ceremonies that have already occurred. Any later changes to the program or additional honorees were not included in the report published Oct. 27.
Conference Opens in Shanghai Oct. 28
The 20th CIFSQ meeting is scheduled to open in Shanghai on Oct. 28. The recognition of Marler and the other named honorees is expected as part of the conference program, although the source report does not provide a ceremony time or agenda. Further details may become available from conference organizers or in subsequent reporting.
Key Questions
What honor will Bill Marler receive?
He is to be recognized as a Distinguished Contributor at the China International Food Safety & Quality Conference.
When and where does the conference open?
The 20th annual conference is scheduled to open Oct. 28, 2026, in Shanghai.
Who else is being recognized?
Food Safety News names Wu Yongning and Cindy Jiang as Distinguished Contributors, and Ge Zhirong and Chen Junshi as recipients of distinguished leadership recognition.
How did Marler first become involved with the conference?
Marler said his involvement began after the 2007 melamine pet food recalls. He contacted the organizers, accepted a keynote invitation tied to sponsorship by his firm, and spoke at the first conference in Beijing that September.
What is not yet known about the award?
The report does not state the ceremony time, whether Marler will attend in person, or how the award recipients are selected.
Source: foodsafetynews.com
