The global community has decided to celebrate for the first time a World Food Safety day, highlighting the importance of food safety related issues for achieving the sustainable development goals, a United Nations official said Thursday during an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

Vincent Martin, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Representative in China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, said the first ever World Food Safety Day, which falls on June 7, had been launched by the United Nations to enhance the importance of food safety issues.

"Globally, about 600 million people fall sick due to foodborne illness and 420,000 people die every year," Martin said. "There is no food security without food safety."

"China has made a lot of efforts in reviewing and strengthening its laws and regulations concerning food safety. I have seen a lot of changes and improvements during the last ten years in this area."

Martin said the FAO is working closely with the veterinary bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to strengthen cooperation on antimicrobial resistance.

A video titled "For better animal health, use antimicrobials responsibly" was jointly released last June to raise awareness on a more sustainable use of antibiotics.

"The cooperation with the ministry is broad, covering all areas of agricultural development and innovation," Martin said, noting that it had been "growing stronger during the past years."

"Due to globalization and increase in trade, we believe it is time to address food safety issues at a global level," he said.