The GEMS/Food monitoring programme aims not only to protect public health, but to promote confidence in the purity of foodstuffs through international information exchange on food contamination, and thus encourage international food trade. There is a need for continued vigilance—through national and international monitoring programmes—to ensure that preventative regulations are being effectively implemented and that any safe levels established for contaminants in food are not exceeded. GEMS/Food will adapt and incorporate additional contaminants into the monitoring programme in the future as the nature and sources of food contamination change. GEMS is also working to establish monitoring programmes in developing countries and in Eastern Europe where data suggest that food contamination is prevalent.