In 1964, at its second session, the Codex Alimentarius Commission established the Coordinating Committee for Europe to succeed the 'European Council of the Codex Alimentarius' and to replace the 'Advisory Group for Europe' set up at its first session in 1963.
The first meeting of the Coordinating Committee for Europe took place in July 1965 in Berne, Switzerland and was attended by 16 countries from the region.
The current coordinator, Germany, is based in the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL).
Germany’s main priorities as coordinator are to:
- reduce barriers to active participation of Members of the region in Codex work;
- increase the awareness of the role of Codex and food safety in general in the transition towards sustainable food systems; and
- promote the use of Codex standards in priority areas such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
In addressing these priorities, the coordinator will use synergies from international and regional level activities of the Codex Secretariat, FAO and WHO as well as Codex Observers.
The FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia and the WHO Regional Office for Europe (EURO) co-hosted a World Food Safety Day webinar on 28 June to address the linkages between One Health and food safety.
Welcome remarks were given by Raimund Jehle, Regional Programme Leader, FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, who said: “Food safety authorities have long worked to manage food safety issues through a set of key principles including a risk-based approach, applying controls from [...]
Students of the Department of Veterinary Sanitation of the Faculty of Veterinary and Husbandry Technologies at the S.Seifullin Kazakh Agro Technical Research University, together with their lecturer, Associate Professor Laura Auteleyeva, created a ‘flash mob’ video for World Food Safety Day. Set to a rap sound track, the students can be seen wearing World Food Safety Day T-shirts and laboratory coats, as well as dark glasses, as Professor Auteleyeva walks into shot to front the ‘mob’ scene.
Watch the video
The Risk Assessment Conference, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) Scientific Committee, was held on 7 June, in the AESAN headquarters in Madrid.
The Scientific Committee is the Risk Assessment Board in charge of providing risk assessments and scientific reports on food safety and nutrition, defining the scope of the research work necessary for the fulfilment of its functions and coordinating the work of the groups of experts that carry [...]
On 7 June, FAO in Albania celebrated World Food Safety Day in collaboration with the EU-funded Food Safety Project and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The joint event brought together representatives from the tourism sector, associations, agrifood regulators and consumers.
In a video message recorded for the event, Raimund Jehle, FAO Representative for Albania, talked of the role of food safety in achieving healthy diets, in enhancing market access and economic development and in ensuring food and nutrition security. [...]
As a national Codex Contact Point (CCP) for North Macedonia the Food and Veterinary Agency (FVA) for the fifth time joined the global campaign to mark 7 June, World Food Safety Day. The aim of the initiative was to bring together different stakeholders involved in the food chain and through public debate to raise awareness for food safety as well as inform the public about the importance of prevention, detection and handling of food poisoning, thus contributing to food security, [...]
The Codex Contact Point (CCP) in Poland has completed the translation of a foundation Codex text, the General Principles of Food Hygiene into Polish. “This standard is of the greatest interest to stakeholders in Poland,” said Magdalena Kowalska (pictured second left), “and we have frequently been asked about access to this particular document by food business operators.”
The project is part of Polish celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Codex Alimentarius Commission which coincides with 60 years of the CCP in [...]
The LSG Group celebrated World Food Safety Day with various activities happening at LSG Sky Chefs facilities around the world. Celebrations were held everywhere, and employees not only highlighted the importance of this issue, but also showed their commitment.
Operating in airline catering, food safety is at the core of what LSG Group does. "By following legal standards and our company food standards we provide safe products to our customers. By guaranteeing every day anew that our food is safe, we [...]
In a World Food Safety Day webinar the Spanish food safety consultancy, Ainia, provided an overview of good food safety practices.
The event had a participation of 150 attendees and focused on exposing some aspects of the 5 basic elements:
Make sure they are safe
Ensure safe planting
Keep them safe
Understand what is “safe”
Create food safety teams
In addition, three strategic pillars to achieve the vision: "Safe food for people everywhere" were discussed. This included:
1. Benchmarking and harmonization: integration of legal/regulatory requirements with those of [...]
In the context of the World Food Safety Day, the Faculty of Industrial Chemistry and Environmental Engineering of the Politehnica University Timisoara, Romania, organized a poster contest “Youth and Food Safety - PolySafeFood 4th Edition”. The competition took place online on 7 June.
Participants submitted posters and videos (5 minutes max.) on various food safety topics and on 7 June, the winners of the poster contest were announced in an online event where the representatives of the Faculty of Industrial Chemistry and Environmental Engineering offered a speech about the safety aspect [...]
The Spanish Federation of Food Science and Technology Associations (FEDALCYTA) held a World Food Safety Day webinar on 7 June that included presentations on ideas around "Inform to train", "Pursuing climate neutrality", "Profiles and training for new skills" and "Official control based on European regulations”.
The event was conducted with the support of the Food Campus of the University of Barcelona and made use of the World Food Safety Day video, What are food standards and why are they important?
Read [...]