An FAO-led meeting took place in Baku, Azerbaijan on 14 and 15 September under the title of “Advancing Food Standards and Codex Participation in Europe and Central Asia”. The two-day event was co-hosted by Azerbaijan’s Food Safety Agency (AFSA), which, in this 60th anniversary year of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, is celebrating its own 5th anniversary. The event was attended by more than 60 participants, including the heads of relevant central executive authorities of the Republic of Azerbaijan, representatives of 23 countries of the Codex region for Europe  (CCEURO), and delegates from the European Commission, FAO, WHO, the WTO, UNICEF, the World Bank and other institutions.

The event was opened with a speech from AFSA’s Chairperson, Qoşqar Tehmezli, who explained that the Agency was established five years ago to function as the single food safety policymaking and enforcement agency for the country. The Minister of Health of Azerbaijan, Teymur Musayev, emphasized the important role food safety plays in human health and the Minister of Agriculture, Majnun Mammadov, reminded attendees that food safety is an indispensable part of human rights, and a core part of agricultural development. Nasar Hayat, the FAO representative in Azerbaijan and Hande Harmanci, the representative and head of the country office of WHO in Azerbaijan applauded Azerbaijan’s achievements in the food safety arena and Hilde Kruse, Senior Food Standards Officer, spoke on behalf of the Codex Secretariat to join in congratulating Azerbaijan and to also emphasize that Codex standards can only have an impact when they are implemented. Referencing the Codex anniversary in her speech, Christiane Wolff from the WTO said that Codex standards are needed more than ever because Members rely on strong Codex standards.

Codex standards only have an impact when they are implemented

Countries then joined in a discussion on food safety priorities and what they are doing to build capacities and harmonize with Codex standards. Azerbaijan is one of seven countries in the CCEURO region that is benefitting from the Codex Trust Fund (CTF) and has been working hard to update rules for food safety and quality,  build capacities and knowledge on Codex processes. Other countries described progress in translating standards texts and adapting and harmonizing them into national legislations. For Anne Beutling, CCEURO Regional Coordinator, “the use of Codex standards stands and falls with participation […] this creates ownership and practical value”. She described what her country, Germany, is doing to support countries to better understand and better participate in Codex.

Following an introductory presentation on the One Health approach to food safety from Katinka de Balogh, Senior One Health Specialist delegates took part in a rich discussion. Key takeaways included the need for cooperation, communication and sharing of data across sectors in order to manage food safety risks which may originate in the environment, animals and livestock, plants or due to food production processes.

A final panel discussion involved delegates from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, North Macedonia, and Turkmenistan who spoke about their experiences with CTF projects. Each of the countries, is at a different stage of project implementation and the respective delegates were able to share a variety of experiences. Delegates from Türkiye and Sweden reflected on their positive experience as twinning countries to Azerbaijan and North Macedonia respectively, lauding the “team spirit” promoted by those experiences and by Codex itself.

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