As an expected 800 delegates gather in Geneva, Switzerland for the 42nd Codex Alimentarius Commission, 8-12 July 2019, recommendations from the Executive Committee (CCEXEC) include a final draft of the Codex Strategic Plan 2020-2025 and a pathway to discuss the role of science in standard setting. Three days of debate in CCEXEC held at WHO headquarters in Geneva have culminated in agreement on recommendations for adoption of new and revised Codex texts including draft guidelines for rapid risk analysis following instances [...]

Officials of the Governments of Bhutan, India and Nepal launched a joint Codex Trust Fund Project at a workshop held in New Delhi, India 21 June 2019. The project includes a mix of group and individual activities and will run for a period of three years. Year one will see a workshop on risk assessment, advocacy and awareness programmes and training for capacity building on Codex standard setting procedures and processes. Ms. Rita Teaotia, Chairperson, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India [...]

The Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CCEXEC) brings together strategists and technical experts from Codex Member Countries who are meeting this week at World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Kazuaki Miyagishima, Director of the Department of Food Safety and Zoonoses in WHO, speaking on behalf of Naoko Yamamoto, Assistant Director-General, Head of the newly created Universal Health Coverage/Healthier Populations Division, welcoming delegates, said “Codex standards and guidelines have critical roles to play in ensuring people have healthy [...]

The Chilean Codex Alimentarius Secretariat, ACHIPIA, organized a seminar on 5 June 2019 entitled “Codex Alimentarius: Strengthening food safety in trade”. The aim was to attract and increase the participation of different sectors of the food industry in the national sub-committees. Speakers from the food industry association explained to participants how Codex standards and their application in production processes, help them in complying with national and international regulations on food safety and facilitating food trade, using concrete examples in which [...]

The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has recently launched a new project, the OIE Observatory, to strengthen the implementation of OIE International Standards by Member Countries. The OIE Observatory is an ambitious project still at the concept level and with a multi-phased approach. OIE is currently collaborating with The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to develop the design of the Observatory. The project has a Reference Group, in which the Codex Secretariat participates. At the OIE 87th [...]

As the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) begins in Budapest, we spoke to Attila Nagy who takes over as Chairperson at this session. A veterinarian and microbiologist, in November 2018 Attila was appointed Director of the newly established Food Chain Safety Laboratory Directorate in Hungary. Attila, thanks for your time. You were born just two years after Hungary started hosting CCMAS. What, in your view, are the three major changes in analytical methods that have taken place [...]

Делегация во главе с региональным координатором по Европе Комиссии Кодекс Алиментариус, Найлей Карсыбековой, посетила Республику Армения с 29 по 30 апреля 2019 года, а также Республику Молдова 2 и 3 мая, чтобы изучить пути расширения участия этих стран в Кодексе. Во время миссии были проведены встречи на высоком уровне в Министерствах сельского хозяйства, здравоохранения, Инспекционных органах по безопасности пищевых продуктов, Страновых офисах ФАО и ВОЗ. «Визит в Армению и Молдову предоставил возможность встретиться с высокопоставленными представителями и лицами, принимающими решения в [...]

Interview with Kathy Twardek, the new chairperson of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling, ahead of the 45th session which gets underway in Ottawa, Canada on 13 May 2019. Kathy, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. To start, tell us where you work? I have been working for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) since it was established in 1997, and for a few years before that in various departments whose focus was on consumer affairs and food inspection. Why [...]

At the WTO International Forum on Food Safety and Trade held in Geneva, Switzerland, 23-24 April 2019, delegates learnt how food safety regulatory systems need to constantly adapt to challenges and how Codex needs to address emerging and new challenges in a timely and efficient manner, while keeping existing standards up to date. Speaking in the thematic session “Promoting harmonized food safety regulation in a period of change and innovation”, Reri Indriani, Deputy Chairperson in the National Agency for Drug and [...]

Penny K. Lukito, Head of the Food and Drug Authority of the Republic of Indonesia opened the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF), held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia 29 April to 3 May, 2019 and stated how proud Indonesia was to once again be trusted with co-hosting a Codex meeting. Indonesia and The Netherlands are co-hosting CCCF13 The meeting is being attended by approximately 250 participants from 60 countries and in greeting delegates Wieke Tas, Chairperson from the permanent hosts of the [...]