In October 2004 the Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases of Shaheed Beheshti University hosted in Tehran an Iranian-American workshop on Food Safety and Surveillance Systems for Foodborne Diseases. The purposes of the workshop were to initiate contacts between Iranian and American specialists, exchange information about relevant activities in the two countries, and set the stage for future cooperation in the field. The participants also identified important aspects of food safety that should be addressed more intensively by both countries, including surveillance, research, international trade, and risk assessment. The framework for the workshop had been developed during a meeting of Iranian and American specialists in June 2003 in Les Treilles, France. More that 100 specialists participated in the workshop in their personal capacities, along with representatives of the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization. These proceedings include a number of papers that were presented at the workshop together with summaries of discussions following presentation of the papers.