Bordeaux, France 16-17 March 2019

Chairing a Codex meeting requires a particular skill set. The experts chosen by host governments of committees need to be able to manage, lead, plan, negotiate and communicate effectively, all this in the intense environment of an international meeting attended by delegates from the 188 Codex Member countries and 229 observer organisations.

The Codex Secretariat organises regular training courses for chairs and the 2019 session was particular timely as the current cycle of meetings will see eight new chairs and co-chairs in the spotlight for the first time.

The new-entries in Codex (left to right in the photo) are: Fan Yongxiang (China, Food Additives); Jean-Luc Anglot (France, General Principles); Fran Freeman (Australia, Inspection and Certification); Atilla Nagy (Hungary, Analysis and Sampling); Hilke Thordsen (Germany, Nutrition, co-chair); Kathy Twardek (Canada, Food Labelling); Anja Brönstrup (Germany, Nutrition); Norrani Eksan (Malaysia, Fats and Oils).

The weekend residential course was dedicated to exchanging experiences in managing meetings and provided valuable input to those who were new to the team. The workshop was enhanced by the presence of members of the Executive Committee (CCEXEC) and this also allowed for discussions to take place on the critical review of Codex standards that falls under the purview of the CCEXEC before each Commission.

With the presence of the Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the three vice-chairs, together with three of the regional coordinators, it was also possible to hold informal discussions on the new strategic plan and understand regional and specific issues that will feed into the final draft to be presented to Members ahead of the Commission in Geneva in July 2019.

“The special environment, openness and dialogue created by the training team from the Codex Secretariat are key to obtaining the results we have achieved this weekend”, said Guilherme da Costa, Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission.