A workshop held 11-12 April 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya is providing participants from COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) with a science-based approach for risk assessment and management of mycotoxins. Mycotoxin contamination of food commodities poses major challenges to both public health and trade. While it remains a global problem, this is particularly relevant in some regions of the world where dietary exposure to mycotoxins is still unacceptably high. Effective national and regional programmes for reducing mycotoxins contamination require [...]

Experts gather in Haikou, China to establish maximum limits for pesticide residues in food and feed. The 50th session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues began on Monday 9 April in Haikou, China and concludes Friday. Since 1966 the committee has established over 5000 Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for pesticide residues covering 303 pesticides. Pesticides are used to protect crops against insects, weeds, fungi and other pests. Pesticides are potentially toxic to humans and can have both acute and chronic health [...]

Dr Martin Slayne -  International Council of Grocery Manufacturers Associations Global Head Scientific & Regulatory Affairs The Hershey Company  The Codex Committee on Contaminants in Food (CCCF) provides a global forum for governments to harmonize regulatory management measures, based on common science, risk assessment and best practices. At the recent 12th meeting of the Committee, good progress was made in some areas, although a key observation when discussing the setting of Maximum Levels for contaminants was an increasing pattern of country [...]

The research group - the Health and Labour Science Research Grants, Research Program on Food Safety - Developing International Strategy for Food Safety Regulation based on International Food Standard-Setting Process in Japan –Japan – co-hosted by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Consumer Affairs Agency, and Policy Alternatives Research Institute of the University of Tokyo held its fifth annual Codex-related symposium at the University of Tokyo since 2013. More people and food traveling [...]

Andean government representatives discussed on 7-8 March 2018 in Quito, Ecuador the challenges they face and the successes they celebrate in setting international standards used in trading plant products and food internationally. Contact points, representing members of the Codex Alimentarius and parties to the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), shared their experiences while seeking ways to boost subregional cooperation during a workshop, convened by the Secretariats of the two UN organizations and Corporación IG-DE. Over the course of two days, standards [...]

The Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods begins its twelfth session in Utrecht, The Netherlands on Monday 12th March. The committee is chaired by Dr Wieke Tas of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature & Food Quality in The Netherlands. Environmental contaminants Q: The agenda starts with the industrial and environmental contaminants. What progress has been made on establishing maximum levels (MLs) for lead and for cadmium in chocolate and what needs to be done next to complete this work? A: There’s a difference between lead [...]

On February 20th 2018, the Government of Timor-Leste officially became the 188th Member of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Dr Rajesh Pandav is the WHO Representative to the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and he explained to Codex what finally convinced Timor-Leste to join the Codex Alimentarius Commission. A strong national food control system will play a critical role in ensuring safe food consumption. The government feels that a strong national food control system will play a critical role in ensuring safe food consumption, protecting [...]

On February 20th 2018, a letter was sent from the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to the State Minister and Minister of Health for Timor-Leste, Dr Rui Maria de Araujo, acknowledging their application to join the Codex Alimentarius Commission. And with this communication, the Government of Timor-Leste officially became the 188th Member of the Commission. Great opportunities to improve public health and drive sustainable development. Dr Kazuaki Miyagishima, Director Food Safety and Zoonoses, WHO, said: “Timor-Leste, located at [...]

In October 2017 Steve Mambu, Laboratory Director at the National Standards Laboratory in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry spoke about the launch of the National Codex Committee in Liberia. At a recent Codex workshop in Nairobi we caught up with Steve again and asked him for an update on progress. In Liberia food standards are key to facilitating trade. Steve: As a result of the assessment of the food safety situation in Liberia, it was recommended we establish a food law. So I can tell you we [...]

The two-day Regional Technical Workshop for National Codex Contact Points held in Nairobi, Kenya 6-7 February 2018 brought together participants from close to 25 African countries. Staff from the Codex Secretariat delivered a training course to help staff working in national Codex systems participate in the Codex international standard-setting environment.  Participants learnt how to navigate the new Codex website and worked with online web tools such as the Online Registration System (ORS); the Online Commenting System (OCS); and the Digital platform [...]