50. Ms Marisa Caipo, speaking on behalf of Consumers International, presented a document on “Active consumer participation in food safety communication” (AC 05/7). The speaker highlighted the series of campaigns conducted by Consumers International in 2004/2005 in the countries of the region under the theme “wholesome food, safe food, responsible consumers”. She noted that these campaigns included training and information dissemination activities based on the WHO 5 keys for safer food and other material developed with PAHO and INPPAZ. It was emphasized that these campaigns have contributed to raising the awareness of food safety issues among consumers and have also resulted in the development of guidelines for national consumer organizations to assist these organizations to better participate in the work of the Codex. The participation of Consumers International in the FAO Codex projects was also highlighted. The speaker concluded with a series of recommendations stressing the need for governments to ensure the sustainability and continuity of national food safety policies and include consumer participation in all aspects of their development.
51. The delegates thanked Consumers International for preparing the paper and agreed on the importance of the active participation of consumers in ensuring food safety.
52. Member countries stressed the importance of consumer participation in food safety matters, while acknowledging the challenges for such active participation, including the lack of organization of consumer associations and the lack of resources. The Conference noted the inclusion of input from consumers in public policy development in several countries within the region and the efforts of other countries to include consumer associations in different mechanisms related to the development of food control systems. The need for countries to increase the participation of consumer associations in National Codex Committees was also underlined. It was noted that consumer involvement throughout the process of food standard/regulatory development may result in improved acceptance of such norms by the general public.
53. The Conference emphasized the need to raise awareness among consumers and noted various examples of consumer education campaigns, the inclusion of food safety in the curriculum in primary schools and other means to communicate information in food safety matters.
