The Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods begins its twelfth session in Utrecht, The Netherlands on Monday 12th March. The committee is chaired by Dr Wieke Tas of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature & Food Quality in The Netherlands. Environmental contaminants Q: The agenda starts with the industrial and environmental contaminants. What progress has been made on establishing maximum levels (MLs) for lead and for cadmium in chocolate and what needs to be done next to complete this work? A: There’s a difference between lead [...]

On February 20th 2018, the Government of Timor-Leste officially became the 188th Member of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Dr Rajesh Pandav is the WHO Representative to the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and he explained to Codex what finally convinced Timor-Leste to join the Codex Alimentarius Commission. A strong national food control system will play a critical role in ensuring safe food consumption. The government feels that a strong national food control system will play a critical role in ensuring safe food consumption, protecting [...]

On February 20th 2018, a letter was sent from the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to the State Minister and Minister of Health for Timor-Leste, Dr Rui Maria de Araujo, acknowledging their application to join the Codex Alimentarius Commission. And with this communication, the Government of Timor-Leste officially became the 188th Member of the Commission. Great opportunities to improve public health and drive sustainable development. Dr Kazuaki Miyagishima, Director Food Safety and Zoonoses, WHO, said: “Timor-Leste, located at [...]

In October 2017 Steve Mambu, Laboratory Director at the National Standards Laboratory in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry spoke about the launch of the National Codex Committee in Liberia. At a recent Codex workshop in Nairobi we caught up with Steve again and asked him for an update on progress. In Liberia food standards are key to facilitating trade. Steve: As a result of the assessment of the food safety situation in Liberia, it was recommended we establish a food law. So I can tell you we [...]

The two-day Regional Technical Workshop for National Codex Contact Points held in Nairobi, Kenya 6-7 February 2018 brought together participants from close to 25 African countries. Staff from the Codex Secretariat delivered a training course to help staff working in national Codex systems participate in the Codex international standard-setting environment.  Participants learnt how to navigate the new Codex website and worked with online web tools such as the Online Registration System (ORS); the Online Commenting System (OCS); and the Digital platform [...]

A two-day Regional Technical Workshop for National Codex Contact Points has concluded in Kenya's capital Nairobi, bringing together participants from close to 25 African countries, with the majority working within the areas of food safety and international standards. The workshop supported skills and knowledge development to increase practical capacity and ability of staff working in national Codex systems and to facilitate their successful operation in the Codex international standard-setting environment. This is through the use of electronic tools, such as [...]

One role of the regional coordinators in Codex is to bring to the attention of the wider Codex community topics of particular interest emerging from their regions relating to food safety and quality standards or trade. In a historic first for Codex, an Eastern European country — Kazakhstan — has taken the reins of the FAO/WHO Regional Coordinating Committee for Europe (CCEURO), as Regional Coordinator for Europe. Regional standard for mare’s milk Several meetings took place in 2017 with a producer of [...]

On January 9, 2018, a training course was held in Lisbon, Portugal, with the objective to reorganize and strengthen the participation of national representatives of  different committees in Codex work, as well as, to raise awareness concerning the need to engage all stakeholder groups (Non-governmental organizations, consumer organizations and industry associations) and partners (Ministry of science, health, trade and foreign affairs) in Codex work. This training was organized and conducted by the General Directorate for Food and Veterinary / Food Safety [...]

The FAO/WHO Regional Coordinating Committees (RCC) are to be held between September and October 2019. Tom Heilandt, Codex Secretary, announced the change in scheduling earlier this week. Why have the RCC meetings been moved? Tom: Following consultation with FAO and WHO, we feel there is an opportunity to enhance the RCC revitalization process by rescheduling these meetings more closely together in the Codex calendar. This will bring stronger alignment and sharper focus on regional matters and rationalize the Secretariat workload, which is complex [...]

For the first time Codex members and observers can participate remotely in the plenary discussion of a meeting, providing comments and inputs in real time thanks to the use of webinar technology. This is a milestone in the Codex approach to developing standards by ensuring broader and simultaneous participation. The new tool is in use this week in Santiago, Chile, where Codex members and observers are attending the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS) [...]