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 African Union.

The Addis Ababa meeting will centre on:

• the burden of foodborne diseases and the benefits of investing in safe food
• safe and sustainable food systems in an era of accelerated climate change
• science, innovation and digital transformation at the service of food safety
• empowering consumers to make healthy choices and support sustainable food systems.

The Geneva Forum will be held on the WTO premises and address the trade-related aspects and challenges of food safety.

Together the two events offer a unique opportunity to strengthen political engagement and commitments and scale up food safety in the 2030 Agenda.

The Codex Secretariat is part of the team preparing the two events and colleagues involved in Codex activities at the national level, such as Codex Contact Points, may help to facilitate the appropriate nomination of participants and support the follow up on actions to be taken after the Conference.

With an estimated 600 million cases of foodborne illnesses and 420 000 deaths caused annually, unsafe food is a threat to human health and economies everywhere, disproportionally affecting those already vulnerable such as small children, pregnant women, the elderly, the immunocompromised and populations affected by food insecurity.

“The meetings will help identify future food safety challenges and possible solutions and strengthen political commitment for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the results will provide important input for the Codex Alimentarius in the years to come”, says Hilde Kruse, Senior Food Standards Officer with the Codex Secretariat.

Here are the dates and venues of the two meetings:

The First FAO/WHO/AU International Food Safety Conference ¦ 12-13 February 2019 ¦ Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The FAO/WHO/WTO International Forum on Food Safety and Trade ¦ 23-24 April 2019 ¦ Geneva, Switzerland

Read more on the Conference website

See the Conference flyer in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish