The number of people who will die every year due to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is expected to rise to 10 million by 2050. Under the slogan, “There is no time to wait”, from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of the Republic of Korea, the eighth and final session of the Codex AMR task force opened virtually from Buyeo on 4 October 2021. In welcoming over 300 online delegates, Mr Kim Ganglip, Minister of Food and Drug Safety of the [...]

The final session of the Ad hoc Codex Intergovernmental Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance (TFAMR8) will take place virtually from 4 to 9 October 2021, with the adoption of the report scheduled for 13 October. Mandated by the Codex Alimentarius Commission in 2016, the Task Force is to: revise the Code of Practice to Minimize and Contain Antimicrobial Resistance (CXC 61-2005) (COP) – and develop a new document: Guidance on Integrated Monitoring and Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance (GLIS) to address the management [...]

A virtual event hosted live from the roof of FAO in Rome and the adjacent Caracalla Roman Baths kicked off the first World Food Forum (WFF) with high level messages, poetry and music from around the globe. WFF runs from 1 to 5 October 2020 and is a youth-led movement and network to transform our food systems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular “zero hunger”. WFF brings together youth to drive awareness, foster engagement, and mobilize youth-led [...]

Speaking on 29 September 2021 at the opening of an FAO/OIE/WHO webinar entitled “One Health Approach to AMR Mitigation and Safer Food in the Asia-Pacific Region”, Codex Secretary Tom Heilandt said the tripartite One Health approach to mitigation of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and safer food was “the only approach that promises success”. In highlighting the decisive moment for Codex and AMR he encouraged Codex Members to ramp up their efforts to complete the work of the AMR taskforce – due to begin [...]

Over 400 delegates gathered online for the opening session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL) which runs from 27 September to 7 October 2021, hosted, since its inception in 1965, by Canada. Harpreet Kochhar, Associate Deputy Minister of Health Canada, welcomed delegates and described Canada’s relationship with the committee as one of the country’s longest standing and most significant international engagements in food and nutrition. “Making decisions and choices about food is an important aspect of daily life. International labelling [...]

The 46th session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL46), hosted by Canada, will get underway virtually on 27 September and conclude on 7 October 2021. Topics on the agenda include: labelling of non-retail containers, front of pack nutrition labelling, allergen labelling and guidance on e-commerce. CCFL46 was postponed from 2020 to 2021 due to the pandemic which allowed for extra time to further develop the agenda items.  Ahead of the meeting, Chairperson Kathy Twardek, Canada said: “A great deal [...]

In officially opening the UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) on 23 September 2021, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said: “Food is life, food is hope. Changing food systems is not only possible but necessary, for our planet, for people, for prosperity.” Everyone must take action to transform the way the world produces, consumes, and thinks about food. “Food Systems can and must play a leading role in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda,” he said. Although it did [...]

A webinar held on 20 October 2021 demonstrated to an online audience of over 150 how Codex Observers can contribute to the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Hosted by the Codex Secretariat as part of a series of live online events, the webinar was an opportunity for a wide variety of observer organizations to explain and discuss how they contribute to Codex work. The 240 Observers in Codex are made up of UN agencies, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations (from [...]

The Codex Committee on Fish and Fishery Products begins its 35th session on Monday 20 September 2021. Meeting for the first time by correspondence via the Codex online platform, CCFFP35 will evaluate if the Standard for Canned Sardines and Sardine-Type Products (CXS 94-1981) can be amended to include the fish species S. lemuru (Bali Sardinella) in the list of Sardinella species. Norway hosts the fish committee and Chairperson Vigdis Veum Møllersen spoke to the Codex Secretariat about the work ahead: Q: How [...]

The Codex Committee on Food Additives has adopted its final report confirming consensus reached on recommendations that include over 500 food additive provisions already in the Codex step procedure and 90 proposed provisions that will all now proceed for consideration by the Codex Alimentarius Commission in November 2021. The committee, hosted by China, met virtually from 1 to 10 September 2021 and emboldened by the support from the Executive Committee maintained its word that the business of debating and agreeing on [...]