The Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH) this year returns to the State of Kerala, meeting in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital, 200km from the site of the inaugural meeting in Kochi held in February 2014. The meeting takes place 521 years after Vasco da Gama arrived at Calicut in Kerala following the first direct sea voyage from Europe to Asia and changed the spice trade forever. “Since time immemorial export of black white and green pepper has been a [...]

Health and agriculture officials, food safety authorities, scientific experts, representatives of consumers and food producers associations as well as other organizations including the private sector will convene in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Geneva, Switzerland early 2019 to identify key actions and strategies to address current and future challenges to food safety. “The Future of Food Safety – Transforming knowledge into action for people, economies and the environment” is the overall topic of the events, co-organized by FAO, WHO, WTO and the [...]

“Codex provides a real opportunity for collaboration but what does it actually mean to engage in a collaborative negotiation?” This was the question posed by Susan Coleman, trainer and coach as a negotiations workshop running from 11-14 December 2018 got underway in Accra, Ghana for 26 members of the Ghana Standards Authority. The four-day programme is part of a Codex Trust Fund (CTF) project to build national capacity for effective engagement in Codex. Mr Kofi Nagetey, Deputy Director General of the Ghana [...]

The Ad hoc Codex Intergovernmental Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance (TFAMR) started its sixth week-long meeting today in Busan, Republic of Korea. With more than 250 Codex Members and Observers in attendance, the meeting will make progress on revising the Codex Code of Practice to Minimize and Contain Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistance as well as developing the Guidelines on Integrated Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance. "The problem seems simple”, said Dr Yong Ho Park, the TFAMR Chair, underscoring the rapid increase of microorganisms [...]

Experts met in FAO on 19 – 23 November 2018 to discuss ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) and develop scientific advice for the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Food. CFP is one of the most common foodborne illnesses related to seafood consumption. While CFP has been known about for centuries, its true incidence remains unclear. In 2000 it was estimated that 10 000 – 50 000 people per year suffer from this illness. Markus Lipp, Senior Food Safety Officer, and FAO Secretary [...]

The Codex Alimentarius Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) opened 26 November in Berlin, Germany. Speaking at the opening session before a record number of 420 delegates from Member countries and observer organizations, Hans-Joachim Fuchtel, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, reminded the committee of its dedication to those with special nutritional needs and therefore in need of special care. Fuchtel told delegates that achieving “a well-balanced nutritional diet for a growing world [...]

The Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) will meet in Berlin, Germany on 26-30 November 2018. A new team has been appointed by the host government, Germany, and the session will be chaired by Anja Brönstrup (top left), who has a background in nutrition. Prior to joining the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture in 2016, Anja worked for national and international scientific authorities, including the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Hilke Thordsen is the [...]

The Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH) is gathering for the 50th time. This year the meeting, chaired by the United States of America, is co-hosted by Panama, whose Vice Minister of Health, Eric Ulloa, set the tone for the week-long meeting. “Challenges are ahead,” he told the Committee, outlining the forward-looking agenda, which includes: revising one of the earliest Codex standards (the General Principles of Food Hygiene) and covering new topics, such as allergen management, microbiological foodborne outbreak management [...]

Codex Members of the Latin America and the Caribbean region met in Panama City on 11 November 2018 to discuss the draft Codex Strategic Plan (2020-2025). Organized by the regional coordinator, Chile, the meeting brought together 22 participants from 11 countries, who were attending the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene. Constanza Vergara of Chile led the meeting on behalf of the Regional Coordinator. In light of the experience of the participants in Codex standard-setting and implementation, the meeting served as an [...]

Codex Members in the Europe region began a three-day meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan today to improve their skills and knowledge of the online tools used by the food standard-setting partnership and to discuss the regional priorities to propose including in the Codex Strategic Plan (2020-2025). Zhandarbek Bekshin of the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan, the country leading the Codex Coordinating Committee for Europe, opened the session with a call for establishing a joint position on food trade-related matters in the 51 [...]