The sixth session of the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs will send standards for Saffron, Nutmeg and Chilli peppers and paprika for final adoption by the Codex Alimentarius Commission in November 2022. A spokesperson for the Indian delegation said of the work on chili peppers: “There is high hope now for harmonized national standards across the globe for this very valuable and ubiquitous spice.” Chairperson Dr M.R. Sudharsan, India, said the achievements of the meeting were a source of pride [...]

Codex standards and the AMR Codex Texts (ACT) project were presented at the Second MFDS Global Conference on Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), which took place in Seoul, Korea on 27-28 September 2022. The event was organized by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), the Republic of Korea, with speakers from the FAO ACT project team. Codex Secretary Tom Heilandt commended the Republic of Korea on their commitment to advance Codex Standards. Following their generous support of the Codex Task Force on [...]

A webinar for the Latin American and the Caribbean region “Guide and orientation for new Codex Alimentarius participants“ took place on 14-15 September 2022 and was attended by almost 500 participants.  It was part of the AMR Codex Texts (ACT) project to raise awareness of the use of Codex texts. The next webinar is scheduled for December. Rommel Betancourt, General Coordinator for Food Safety at The Phyto and Zoosanitary Regulation and Control Agency of Ecuador and Regional Coordinator of the FAO/WHO [...]

To strengthen capacity for better and more effective participation in Codex work for selected Asian countries, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), organized a virtual regional workshop on “Enhancing Effective Participation in Codex Activities” from 20 to 22 September 2022. The workshop is part of a wider five-year programme sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF) which enhances Capacity in Codex for Effective Participation and Contribution of Selected Countries in Asia. A [...]

By Sylvia Kirabo, Head of Public Relations and Marketing at UNBS and Hakim Mufumbiro, Regional Coordinator CCAFRICA Uganda, which doubles as the current CCAFRICA Coordinator, has concluded a four-day Twinning and Mentorship programme on Codex Activities between Uganda and Tanzania that was held at the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) Headquarters in Kampala from 19 to 22 September 2022. The objective of the twinning arrangement is to strengthen Member States capacity and efficiency in engaging and management of Codex activities especially [...]

The sixth session of the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH), hosted virtually by India, began on 26 September 2022. Chairperson Dr M.R. Sudharsan expressed confidence that the committee would work to cover all the items on its agenda and make valuable progress on the development of standards. Mr D Sathiyan, Secretary of the Spices Board of India, welcomed over 230 online delegates on behalf of the Government of India to the online session and underlined how the numbers [...]

Codex standards and the AMR Codex Texts (ACT) project will be presented at the Second MFDS Global Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance, which will take place in Seoul, Korea on 27-28 September 2022. The event will be organized by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), the Republic of Korea. Codex Secretary Tom Heilandt will talk about Codex Standards on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and will stress the importance of their implementation. There will be a special session to introduce the ACT [...]

In a preview webinar held on 22 September 2022 ahead of the 6th session of the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH), taking place from 26 September to 3 October, Chairperson Dr M.R. Sudharsan, India, said the committee had learnt from its experience of operating virtually and many issues on standards being considered had been resolved by working groups meeting before the plenary sessions. “Now we are more focused, and hope delegates also have gained experience by attending [...]

The AMR Codex Texts (ACT) project “Implementation of Codex standards to support containment and reduction of foodborne antimicrobial resistance” was recently presented in two regional meetings of the Mongolian Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA) on August 2-3 and August 6-7, 2022.  These two conferences were organized by the MVMA branch councils of the Bayankhongor and Zavkhan provinces in cooperation with the Department of Veterinary Services and the FAO office in Mongolia.  “Veterinarians were introduced to the goals and activities of the project, and [...]

In preparation for CCFICS26, the electronic Working Group (eWG) for Equivalence is convening a CCFICS Equivalence virtual workshop on 21 September 2022, 12.00 to 14.30 CET, open to all Codex Members and Observers. Equivalence is a complex issue and building understanding and consensus takes time.  There have been multiple rounds of consultation and comments via physical and electronic working groups and at several CCFICS meetings since 2014.  The event will provide an opportunity for informal discussion of the two separate but parallel [...]