The Salvadoran Agency for Technical Regulation (OSARTEC), Codex El Salvador Contact Point, held a workshop on 20 February 2023 to plan the 2023 National Codex Programme.   Read the news on the OSREATEC web site in English and in Spanish Photo credit ©OSRATEC

On 5 April 2023, the FAO/WHO Scientific Advice Programme will release a new publication entitled “Food safety aspects of cell-based food” in a webinar that is open to Codex Members and Observers. Animal-based meat production has evolved over thousands of years to meet the demand for safe and affordable sources of protein. Cell-based food production, which is the field of growing animal agricultural products directly from cell cultures, is being explored as a sustainable alternative or complement to conventional livestock [...]

Abdoulie Jallow, Senior Scientific Officer Food Safety and Quality Authority, Gambia The National Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Committee of the Gambia was launched on 21st of February 2023, at a ceremony held at the premises of the Food Safety and Quality Authority of the Gambia. SPS Measures are vital instruments used by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other relevant international multilateral agencies to ensure food safety, protection of plants and animals from pests and diseases and the facilitation of international agricultural [...]

The Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) took place in Portland, Oregon, United States of America from 13 to 17 February 2023. Making her debut as Chairperson, Brandi Robinson, from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, congratulated delegates at the end of the meeting on “an impressive amount of work in just three days of plenary”. The Committee advanced maximum residue limits (MRLs) for ivermectin in sheep, pigs, and goats and MRLs for [...]

Food Safety and risk management training with a focus on residues and contaminants by BVL Germany In October 2023 Germany’s Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) will once again host the International Training for Safer Food. ITS Food is a training on food safety risk management, aimed at staff working in public authorities of non-EU countries handling issues related to food safety. ITS Food 2023 will focus on “Residues and Contaminants”. Practitioners from competent authorities, official laboratories and research institutions [...]

In opening remarks at the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) taking place in Portland, Oregon, United States of America from 13 to 17 February 2023, Chairperson Brandi Robinson said “CCRVDF serves a very important role by providing a transparent forum where we can develop science-based standards which will meet Members’ needs, protect consumers, and ensure fair trade practices in the food trade.” The value veterinary drugs play to the health and wellbeing of animals and a [...]

By Scott Mersch Codex Contact Point, Australia On 8 February 2023, the Chairperson of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS), Nicola Hinder, Australia, and Michelle Catlin, United States of America, the Chairperson of the Electronic Working Group (EWG), along with EWG Co-Chairpersons, delivered a virtual workshop to discuss progress to date on drafting the guidance on the Prevention and Control of Food Fraud. The draft guidance will be considered at Step 4 by CCFICS26 [...]

The Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) takes place in Portland, Oregon, United States of America from 13 to 17 February 2023. The Committee will be chaired for the first time by Brandi Robinson. In the lead up to the meeting Brandi responded to a series of questions from the Codex Secretariat. Q: What’s your day job for those who don’t know you? A: I work for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, where I [...]

At the 16th session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for North America and the South West Pacific held from 30 January to 3 February 2023 in Nadi, Fiji,  Steve Hathaway, New Zealand, gave the keynote address on lessons learned from the COVID pandemic, which he said had “irrevocably changed international thinking on food control … [and] dramatically illustrated the importance of effective and science driven risk management by all sectors throughout the food chain.” Hathaway went on to outline how the [...]

“After last having met as a region in 2019, the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for North America and the South West Pacific (CCNASWP16) provides an excellent opportunity to reconnect and exchange views concerning food standards and food control in the region,” said FAO’s Dirk Schulz, in Nadi, as preparations for the session neared completion. WHO will be represented at the meeting by Jessica Kayamori Lopez. "This meeting will be a great opportunity to revisit the priorities of the region and hear from [...]