In opening remarks to the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues, taking place virtually for the first time, from 26 July to 3 August 2021, Zhang Taolin, Vice Minister, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, P.R. China, welcomed participants recalling how CCPR has developed the largest number of standards among all Codex committees. The committee “not only has a significant influence on the development of national pesticide residues standards, but also plays an increasingly important role in strengthening exchanges and cooperation [...]

A webinar held on 21 July 2021 gave countries an update on plans for the 44th Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC44) scheduled for November 2021 and the procedures currently being developed by the Codex Secretariat, together with FAO and WHO, that are expected to be presented to the Membership for endorsement similar to the approach taken for the first virtual CAC in 2020. Speaking at the event attended by over 150 participants, Codex Secretary Tom Heilandt said that before holding a virtual [...]

As part of the global commemorations, METRO Pakistan celebrated World Food Safety Day, under this year’s theme, ‘Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow’, at its stores all over the country by building awareness on food safety through internal and external communication, organizing compliance  competition in store and an awareness session on food safety and hygiene protocols for staff. On World Food Safety Day, METRO Pakistan arranged several activities focusing food safety practices improvement or awareness among its employees and customers [...]

For World Food Safety Day 2021, Chile’s Agency for Food Safety and Quality (ACHIPIA) organized three events aimed at three very specific demographic groups: women, the elderly and children. On 7 June, Chile’s Minister of Agriculture, María Emilia Undurraga; the FAO representative in Chile, Eve Crowley; and the Executive Secretary of ACHIPIA, Nuri Gras, opened ACHIPIA’s World Food Safety Day celebrations with introductions to the first webinar, which was entitled “Mujeres e Inocuidad Alimentaria: muchas nueces, poco ruido.” The event focused [...]

On July 20 the Republic of Korea signed an agreement with FAO placing food safety at the centre of their joint agenda. The first USD 10 million project under the framework arrangement will focus on the implementation and monitoring of Codex standards to support the containment and reduction of foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Jinseok Kim, Vice Minister of the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, speaking at the virtual signing ceremony, emphasized the need for global collaboration. “It is our responsibility [...]

by Tom Heilandt Codex Secretary Like so many, I have now spent more than a year teleworking away from my office in Rome. Conversely, my meeting attendance has probably never been so high which has some benefits.  I have been able to advocate for and witness first hand so much more of our work but I have also been suffering from days overbooked by virtual meetings and the absence of “real” meetings. In addition, the insecurity of when we will be able to [...]

Hosted by the United States, the meeting is running from 12 to 16 July 2021 and has so far discussed several items from a full programme of business. The committee has heard concerns regarding carryover in feed and transfer from feed to food of unavoidable and unintended residues of approved veterinary drugs. Delegates concluded that the provisions in the current Code of Practice on Good Animal Feeding (CXC 54-2004) already provide sufficient advice to Codex Members on unintended carryover of [...]

More than 300 delegates gathered virtually for the opening of the 25th session of the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF), hosted by the United States of America, which will run from 12 to 16 July 2021. Chairperson Kevin Greenlees welcomed the opportunity the virtual environment made allowing the committee to become more inclusive then ever with such high numbers of participants. CCRVDF will look at proposed draft maximum residue limits (MRLs) for various veterinary drugs, and [...]

The Codex Trust Fund Secretariat in collaboration with the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa (CCAFRICA) and the FAO and WHO Regional Offices for Africa held a highly engaging webinar on 5 July 2021 with a focus on the use of the FAO/WHO Diagnostic Tool for assessing status of National Codex Programmes. The Tool is key to determining strengths and weaknesses at country level and the results help identify areas for capacity development. Over 50 participants attended online both from CCAFRICA and [...]

The KAHER Institute of Physiotherapy, Belagavi, India, organized a “Virtual Awareness Programme-Panel Discussion” on the occasion of “World Food Safety Day" on 7 June 2021. In line with the theme for this year, ‘Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow’, the Literary and Education committee of the institute organized a virtual programme and had speakers such as Chef Vijay Bhaskar, Vice President, Indian Food Culinary Association, who spoke on the importance of this day and gave an overview of Food Quality [...]