The Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) takes place in Portland, Oregon, United States of America from 13 to 17 February 2023. The Committee will be chaired for the first time by Brandi Robinson. In the lead up to the meeting Brandi responded to a series of questions from the Codex Secretariat.

Q: What’s your day job for those who don’t know you?

A: I work for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, where I lead and facilitate the international activities related to the evaluation of new animal drugs.

Q: How long have you been involved with this committee?

A: I have been working with CCRVDF for 15 years. My first Codex meeting was CCRVDF17, held in Breckenridge, Colorado, USA, in 2007, and I’ve been fortunate to stay involved with the committee ever since.

Q: What have been its successes?

A: CCRVDF has been very successful in its core work of developing maximum residue limits (MRLs) for veterinary drugs. This Committee has also been willing to take on challenging issues, such as discussing approaches to develop risk management advice when data are insufficient, including the new extrapolation approach established at CCRVDF25.

Q: Where could it do more, or do things differently?

A: Availability of data can be a challenge for CCRVDF, but the Committee continues to explore ways to address veterinary drug residues for compounds lacking data for their uses in other species and for residues found in tissues other than muscle, liver, kidney and fat. Alongside these discussions, CCRVDF continues to prioritize compounds for evaluations through the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) when data are available.

Q: What is the value of the scientific advice if Members want to decide on standards using other criteria?

A: The scientific advice we ask of JECFA considers a broader population than the Members’ national authorities would consider and forms a more neutral basis for CCRVDF’s risk management discussions. Laws, regulations, policies, agricultural practices, consumption patterns, and climates vary greatly amongst Members and JECFA’s scientific advice aims to provide recommendations which are protective of consumers around the globe.

Q: How have you prepared for the session ? Do you hit the gym like your colleague who chairs CCFH?

A: I have been doing a lot of reading through our meeting documents, Members’ comments, and past reports in preparation for this session. I am also looking forward to discussions with delegates before the meeting begins. I probably don’t spend quite as much time in the gym as my CCFH colleague, but I try to get a walk in every day.

Q: What will it be like shifting from being the USA delegate to chairing?

A: For one thing, I’ll have a completely different view of the room compared to sitting in the back of plenary. But aside from the literal shift, my goals will be different as Chairperson than they were as a delegate. My goal is to help the Committee be successful in developing risk management advice by working toward consensus amongst the Members. 

Q: Some Members regret that the meeting will not allow remote active participation. Why has the Committee chosen this route?

A: The last few years showed us that work can continue even when we are not able to gather, but I believe it has also highlighted the benefits of coming together when we can. Unfortunately, we did not have the resources available to run a fully in-person meeting with a virtual participation option for this CCRVDF meeting. We hope the opportunity to view the online stream will still allow Members to follow CCRVDF discussions and that Members will continue to contribute through circular letter comments and electronic working groups.

Q: And a message for delegates, especially first time ones?

A: I look forward to seeing delegates soon in Portland. I hope that this meeting will allow the delegates time to talk with one another and have more robust discussions as we work through our agenda.

Learn more

Working papers available on the CCRVDF web pages

Photo credit:

© FAO/Roberto Sciotti

Brandi Robinson pictured at CAC45, Rome, 23 November 2022