Vice-minister of Health, Kazakhstan, Ms L. Aktayeva (main picture) welcomed delegates to the thirty-first session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Europe. "I am confident that active participation of delegates in this meeting will make a significant contribution to solving various issues in the field of food safety, which will strengthen health of people and nations", she said. Drawing on the impetus of the Sustainable Development Goals Aktayeva said, “Codex standards are directly related to food safety and fair practices [...]

The European region is not only the largest in the Codex Alimentarius Commission but is probably the most diverse. It resembles a bridge between the West and the East. It is symbolic that for the first time, Kazakhstan, geographically located both in Europe and in Asia currently serves as coordinator for the region. The FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Europe (CCEURO) will bring together in Almaty, Kazakhstan,  from 30 September to 4 October 2019, delegates and observers from 51 countries that make [...]

Work over the first two days in Goa has explored how countries in the region can best respond collectively to the big questions regarding food safety and international food trade. Current realities such as the need for countries to continue to adopt Codex Standards for maximum permitted residue levels for pesticides and combatting the threat of antimicrobial resistance are always relevant to the region. Delegates also bring experiences to the regional meeting on how to deal with food fraud especially [...]

Delegates from 18 member countries are gathered in Goa, India 23 to 27 September, for the 21st FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for the Asian region (CCASIA). Sunil Bakshi, Chairperson of the committee and Head of Regulations at the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), extended a warm welcome to those present emphasising that the main objective of CCASIA is to promote mutual communication and resource sharing to develop regional standards and regulations for food products. A great opportunity to work together. Rita [...]

“Asian countries play a key role in the global supply chain”, said Codex Vice Chairperson Purwiyatno Hariyadi as delegates from the Codex Asia region gathered in Goa, India for the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Asia (CCASIA), 23 to 27 September 2019. This meeting is an opportunity for countries to meet and discuss their common concerns and “ensure the standards that advance in the Codex system are relevant” he said. A packed agenda will deal with the food safety issues that the [...]

Food safety experts and officials from Mali took part in the launch of a Codex Trust Fund project on Thursday, 12 September 2019 at the International Conference Center in Bamako. The launch was chaired by Sékou Oumar Dembélé, technical advisor of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs and is part of national capacity building programmes to strengthen food safety in Mali This initiative aims to inform and raise awareness amongst all stakeholders dealing with food safety and nutrition in the [...]

The 15th session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for North America and South West Pacific, is taking place in Port Vila, Vanuatu 16-20 September 2019. Addressing delegates at the opening ceremony, the Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries and Biosecurity, Moses Amos, speaking on behalf of the Minister, urged Codex to deal with the many modern-day challenges affecting food safety and trade in the region. develop policies which best suit our situations “Our region, comprising four of the [...]

The Codex North America and South West Pacific region (CCNASWP) brings together a rich mixture of countries. Developed countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States combine with ten countries from what are known as Small Island Developing States (SIDS), comprising The Cook Islands, Fiji,  Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and the current Codex Regional Coordinator, Vanuatu. Because of their geographic isolation or limited natural resources, SIDS often share a unique set of [...]

The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) came into effect on 30 May 2019 after ratification by 22 countries. AfCFTA creates a single continental market as well as a Customs Union with people, goods and service able to move freely. This will be one of the world’s largest free-trade areas in terms of the number of countries, covering more than 1.2 billion people with a combined Gross Domestic Product of more than USD 3.4 trillion. One of the central [...]

Codex officials from Bhutan and Nepal gathered at the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India in New Delhi from 27th to 31st August 2019, for five days of training on Codex and insights into the functioning of Codex India. The event was part of the group Codex Trust Fund project which kicked off earlier this year. The objective of the training was to impart basic knowledge about Codex and to hear from India about how they approach Codex work management, to [...]