Food allergies may impact only parts of the world’s population, but that impact can be lethal. People with food allergies have only limited options to prevent allergic reactions, by knowing exactly what causes allergies and avoiding the particular food. In March 2021, the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific published “Food allergies – Leaving no one behind”. The booklet explains that it is important to manage food allergies within local contexts. It is critical for countries to understand what [...]

Water is a dwindling resource worldwide. On World Water Day 2021, the UN World Water Development Report  2021 on 'Valuing Water' is launched and in assessing water use in agriculture, calls for the implementation of management strategies that “could maximize the multiple values of water for food production” including improving water use efficiency; reducing demand for food and its consequent water use; and improving knowledge and understanding of water use for food Not all food processors have access to safe [...]

On International Women’s Day 2021, #IWD2021, the Codex Secretariat has launched a video message on the theme of the day #ChooseToChallenge, celebrating the contribution women in the Codex family make to ensure food is safe and can be traded fairly through the food safety standards of the Codex Alimentarius. 📽️ | On #IWD2021 we celebrate women’s achievement in Codex to ensure #FoodSafety and a level playing field for trade through international standards. #InternationalWomensDay @UN_Women pic.twitter.com/98FhT4Ggpd — Codex Alimentarius (@FAOWHOCodex) March 8, 2021   To [...]

Countries all over the world were watching the French Secretariat closely as the first Codex subsidiary body to meet virtually, the Codex Committee on General Principles (CCGP), launched the 2021 series of Codex technical meetings. The Executive Committee had already shown that meetings could be managed this way for smaller groups and the first ever virtual Commission in 2020 had demonstrated that high-level gatherings were also possible with bigger numbers – over 900 delegates registered. The next challenge however for [...]

Welcoming delegates to the 32nd session of the Codex Committee on General Principles (CCGP) that is taking place virtually from 8 to 17 February 2021,  Julien Denormandie, Minister of Agriculture and Food, of the host country France said that in a world facing a major pandemic, the different stakeholders in the food sector everywhere face the challenge of producing healthy and good quality food in sufficient quantity, while at the same time coping with the risk of health, economic hazards [...]

More than a year has passed since the last time a Codex technical committee met. When the Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance ended on 13 December 2019 in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, nobody could imagine that there would be a 14 month wait for experts to gather once again to continue their formal deliberations of Codex business. The task of kicking off the 2021 series of meetings, with plans currently for a virtual year and online sessions, has fallen to France [...]

In 2021 a Food Systems Summit led by UN Secretary-General António Guterres will be part of what is known as the ‘Decade of Action’ to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Speaking at the Executive Committee session on 14 January 2021, Jamie Morrison, Director of the Food Systems Programme in FAO, told delegates how the Summit aims “to generate a much better understanding amongst the public as to the importance of the choices they make” regarding the purchase, consumption [...]

Parent bodies applaud innovation in Codex, maintaining focus and momentum during the pandemic As the 80th session of the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission opened online on 13 January 2021, Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General of FAO, complimented Codex on its ability to quickly adapt to new efficient and effective virtual ways of working. During the pandemic, Codex standards have provided clear, immediate and effective solutions to protect supply chains and consumers and “together we have a chance to [...]

As 2020 drew to a close we asked Codex Secretary Tom Heilandt to look back on the year and these are his thoughts. What has been different about 2020? Just about everything! Travel went down from maybe 50 to three times.  Physical meetings, both Codex meetings and others were “virtually” non-existent. The last time, I met Codex members was at CCEXEC78 back in February, and our last physical Codex team meeting was at the beginning of March. So, everything was different, but [...]

In the second of a series of online webinars organized by the Codex Secretariat for the incoming coordinators representing the six regions in the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the focus was on their role in the Executive Committee, the next session of which will take place, again virtually, from 13 to 21 January 2021. Guilherme Da Costa, Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission said: “The successful achievement of Members in Codex is directly related to the commitment of the Regional Coordinators to [...]