With three sessions of CAC43 already completed, ten standards and six new work proposals have been adopted by the Commission, meeting for the first time ever virtually. Over 120 Members and more than 50 Observer organizations have participated so far and the next plenary session will be on Monday 12 October, 12:00 CET. Listed below are the standards, guidelines and codes of practice that will be adopted into the Codex Alimentarius and the proposals for new work that have been approved. As [...]

The Directors-General of FAO and WHO, the parent organizations of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, set the stage for five days of decision-making on food standards with a message about getting ‘better’. More than 800 registered delegates joined the first-ever virtual Commission, now in its 43rd session, held remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  In congratulating the Commission for ‘jumping into the digital world’, FAO Director-General Dr QU Dongyu noted that science is the driving force for setting Codex food standards. “When [...]

The webinar organized by the Codex Secretariat on Friday 11 September 2020 was well attended with 86 countries and the European Union, plus 34 observer organizations taking part and numbers of attendees peaking at over 300. In opening the session, the Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, Guilherme Da Costa, Brazil paid tribute to the global Codex Contact Points who play a key role in managing the practical work for Codex Members. “Through them, everything happens in the organization and without [...]

As Codex Members and Observers prepare to take part in the first ever virtual session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which starts on 24 September 2020, the Codex Secretariat has organized a training webinar to prepare delegates for the online meeting. This webinar will take place on Friday 11 September 2020, at 12.00 (CET). Delegates will hear from the Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, Guilherme Da Costa and from Codex Secretary, Tom Heilandt, how it was possible to arrange for [...]

The COVID-19 pandemic will have an unprecedented impact on global and regional trade. According to the World Trade Organization, world merchandise trade in 2020 could fall by as much as 32 percent. New policy guidance, part of the FAO COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme, describes how the current economic recession is raising serious concerns about hunger and malnutrition. It goes on to explain how ad-hoc trade restrictions, including food safety measures that may not be science based, have worsened the situation [...]

This year’s World Food Safety Day’s theme was Food Safety Everyone’s Business. The Authority adopted this theme to conduct a campaign on food safety. Several health reports indicate that there has been arise in the number of food borne illnesses globally, this campaign is therefore aimed at raising awareness on the risks people are exposed to through consuming unsafe food. It is also to boost safety measures for consumption of food among the general public, detecting and managing of food [...]

Today Codex Members were invited to endorse the first virtual session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of all physical meetings of Codex Committees for this year and the Codex Secretariat together with the Chairperson and Vice-chairpersons of the Commission, Committee chairpersons and host countries have worked actively to find ways to ensure work continuity. With the support of the Codex Members, electronic working groups of subsidiary bodies are continuing their work and a [...]

Delegations from 85 Codex Members and 40 Observers met up virtually on 28th July 2020 in what may come to be seen as a trial run for the 43rd session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission planned for September 2020. Following on from the successful Executive Committee virtual meeting, the Codex community is now beginning to understand what will be needed, how to prepare and what to expect from a virtual Commission. “The COVID-19 pandemic unquestionably presents an era-defining challenge to public [...]

The ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic has brought challenges to our way of living, interacting and working. The way we have worked internationally to date has been turned on its head. With the cancellation of almost all physical Codex meetings for 2020, it is now essential to look to new ways of continuing the work. The 79th session of the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission successfully met virtually between 13 and 20th July 202. In the current context, if [...]

The 79th session of the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CCEXEC79) has recommended that key Codex texts on food hygiene and the management of food allergens, together with a series of regional and worldwide commodity standards – from kava to chilli sauce, kiwifruit, garlic and yam – be sent for adoption at the next Commission session: CAC43. This session will go ahead virtually starting late September if Codex members give their consent to the modalities currently under development [...]