The 46th meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) has opened with a celebration of the Commission’s 60 years of standards setting, in which the past, future and relevance of Codex were discussed by a range of experts, and long-standing contributions to Codex were recognized. The opening session, facilitated by Corinna Hawkes, Director of the FAO Food Systems and Food Safety Division and Codex Secretary ad interim, heard from the FAO and WHO Directors-General Qu Dongyu and Tedros Ghebreyesus on the [...]

The 46th session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission was opened at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on 27 November by the Directors-General of FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO) with celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the first Commission meeting in 1963. Dr Qu Dongyu, FAO’s Director-General welcomed the more-than 700 delegates from Codex Member Countries and Observer Organizations who have travelled from almost 160 countries to attend the Commission meeting in [...]

The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) meets this week, in Rome, for the 46th time  – 60 years after its very first meeting in 1963. Codex Members and Observers will be celebrating this anniversary, revisiting past milestones along the journey to this year’s meeting, considering at the same time what the next 60 years might hold for Codex.   CAC also has much work to discuss during this week. Proposed texts under adoption include the guidelines for the control of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), the [...]

This year's edition of the CODEX magazine, titled "60 years of standards", is out now! Read some of our articles online and click on the link below to download the full publication. Maria Helena Semedo, FAO Deputy Director-General, spoke with us about the important role Codex plays in achieving the FAO mandate – and how she sees Codex evolving in the coming years. Q: What is the role of the Codex Alimentarius in achieving the mandate of FAO improving global food security?One [...]

This year's edition of the CODEX magazine, titled "60 years of standards", is out now! Read some of our articles online and click on the link below to download the full publication. Dr Ailan Li, WHO Assistant Director-General, Universal Health Coverage, Healthier Populations answered questions about why Codex is important to global public health.Q: What is the role of the Codex Alimentarius in improving global public health?Food safety is a major global challenge. The 2015 WHO Estimates of the Global Burden [...]

This year's edition of the CODEX magazine, titled "60 years of standards", is out now! Read some of our articles online and click on the link below to download the full publication. This article by Nick Gardner, Long-time Codex delegateSix decades is a long time for an organization to remain relevant and effective. Yet, the Codex Alimentarius, a concept developed at a time when global food trade looked very different than it does today, continues to deliver a multitude of benefits [...]

With the 46th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC46) starting next week at FAO HQ, Rome, the Codex Secretariat sat down with the CAC Chairperson, Steve Wearne (United Kingdom), to talk about the Commission, how he intends to chair the meeting and the 60th anniversary of Codex.   Steve, 2023 was yet another intense year for Codex, with 14 committees returning to physical meetings. How would you describe the outcomes of this year so far? Well, you are centainly right. It was a [...]

Six new factsheets were recently published to promote how the “Action to support implementation of Codex AMR (ACT)” project countries work to address foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR). “Managing AMR poses a significant challenge for the world. One way AMR can spread to humans is through food, known as foodborne AMR. Unfortunately, every day, unsafe food causes illnesses and deaths. We work globally and locally to address foodborne AMR through the implementation of Codex AMR texts, and these factsheets provide a snapshot [...]

In welcoming participants to the 85th Session of the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CCEXEC85), taking place in Rome on 20-24 November 2023, Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General of FAO stressed the central role Codex can play in promoting agrifood systems transformation "by developing international food standards that protect consumer health and ensure fair trade practices while supporting the uptake and implementation of policies and programmes that make agrifood systems more sustainable". Recalling the 60th anniversary of the [...]

The Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, Steve Wearne, United Kingdom, in consultation with the Vice-Chairpersons, Allan Azegele, Kenya, Raj Rajasekar, New Zealand, and Diego Varela, Chile, and the Codex Secretariat, has published a letter to Codex Members and Observers describing how he intends to conduct discussions on whether the Commission should establish maximum residue limits for zilpaterol hydrochloride, a veterinary drug used to enhance growth performance in cattle, at the 46th Codex Alimentarius Commssion which begins at FAO HQ in Rome, Italy [...]