Japan joined the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, by organizing the online symposium “Celebrating 60th Anniversary of Codex Alimentarius Commission – looking 10 years ahead to ensure international food safety,” which was held on the 24th of July, 2023 in Tokyo. The event was opened by the video message by Steve Wearne, Chairperson of Codex Alimentarius Commission followed by two keynote speakers, namely Vittorio Fattori, FAO Food Safety Officer, and  Yukiko Yamada, International Food Safety Consultant. The [...]

Bolivia's National Codex Alimentarius Committee, with the support of the Codex Trust Fund and PANAFTOSA-PAHO/WHO, conducted a initiative aimed at raising awareness and expertise on Codex standards with a series of workshops held between June and September 2023. The workshops, titled "Strengthening of Capacities in Codex Alimentarius Topics," were held in the cities of Trinidad, Tarija, Sucre, Potosí, and Oruro. The initiative was attended by more than two hundred participants representing various sectors including food Industries, food laboratories, municipal autonomous governments, municipal [...]

The International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations (IADSA), an NGO with Observer Status with Codex based in London, UK, celebrated Codex@60 in July by lighting up the building of their Danish member association in orange. We talked to them about why this anniversary is significant for them. Why it was important to mark 60 years of Codex for IADSA? Codex has been critical for our sector by establishing the Codex guidelines on vitamin and mineral supplements and all the horizontal texts, such as additives, labelling, claims, [...]

The 33rd session of the Codex Committee on General Principles (CCGP) took important steps towards improving the Procedural Manual, which has been made available in its new format on the Codex Alimentarius website. CCGP33 participants discussed obsolete and outdated content, the guide for amendments and revision for Codex texts and identified other areas for further examination. The Codex Secretariat announced that, aligning with FAO and WHO paperless policies, future editions of the PM will only be available electronically. “CCGP33 was [...]

The first survey on the use and impact of Codex texts, launched on 20 September 2022, reports that the large majority of Codex Members, more than 80 percent, are satisfied with these international food texts. Steve Wearne, Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, welcomed the publication and commented that “Monitoring the use and impact of Codex texts provides key information on how Codex is assisting Members in protecting consumer health and facilitating fair trade practices”. He also underlined that “by adhering to [...]

The Codex Committee on General Principles (CCGP) started its 33rd session in Bordeaux, France, discussing the latest modifications to the Codex Procedural Manual to meet the needs of the Members. The meeting was opened by Marc Fesneau, French Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, who emphasized “that to this end, it is essential that the scientific methodology used for risk assessment is constantly updated, considering innovations in risk assessment, so that Codex Alimentarius continues to be the internationally recognized authority [...]

Jean-Luc Angot, General Inspector of Veterinary Public Health at the French Ministry for Agriculture and Food, will guide the work of the committee that deals with all procedural and general matters, for the third time this year. He will preside over the next session in October 2023 where CCGP will discuss several items, from the Procedural Manual to the rules of procedure on sessions of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Just before the meeting met, the Codex Secretariat sat down with Jean-Luc for [...]

Cambodia brought farmers, veterinarians, abattoir workers, agro-chemical and fertilizer vendors, government officials, and other experts together to discuss how to reduce antimicrobial growth promotion use in poultry farms. Convened as a co-creation workshop, the event took place in Tramkak, Takeo province, on 7-8 September 2023. “We used this innovative co-creation approach, where public and private sector stakeholders met face-to-face to determine the next steps, we could take together to solve the use of antimicrobials in poultry farms. This workshop helped to [...]

By Ms Sylvia Kirabo, Head of Public Relations and Marketing for UNBS and Hakim B. Mufumbiro, Regional Coordinator CCAFRICA Policy and decision makers on food safety and Codex activities of the East African Community (EAC) held a meeting on 1 September, hosted by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), which also serves as the national Codex Contact Point in Uganda, resolving to implement 11 actions to improve food safety control and Codex related systems in the region. The high-level participants from [...]

The Codex Secretariat launched today the second survey to measure the use and impact of Codex texts. Building on the lessons learned and the success of the 2022 survey, this year the survey focuses on the General Standard for Food Additives, Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling, Recommended Methods of Analysis and Sampling, and Guidelines on Performance Criteria for Methods of Analysis for the Determination of Pesticide Residues in Food and Feed.Countries are urged to complete the survey by 25 October 2023. “It [...]