48th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission Opening Remarks

Esteemed Chairperson, Vice-Chairpersons and members of Codex,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

Good morning!

I am so pleased to welcome you to FAO headquarters in the heart of Rome nearby the Circo Massimo. If you came by subway, you would have arrived through the “FAO-Circo Massimo” station where you would have already seen an image of the ceiling of this Plenary Hall, and the connection with the newly opened Food and Agriculture Museum and Network.

This reflects how FAO has opened to the society, to the streets, and to the crowds. You can feel it from the subway station, as you walk through the newly renovated front garden, and as you enter our renovated headquarters building.

You are holding this important session shortly after our 80-year celebration and you therefore have the privilege of being the first to see the recently completed new face of FAO.

So, welcome to this 48th session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission!

We marked our 80th anniversary on 16 October – eight days prior to the establishment of the UN – and we are an independent UN agency, with our own Constitution (which you would have seen as you entered the building) and with our own independent Basic Texts.

That makes FAO stronger, more professional and more relevant, and able to deliver effectively. This is also why the Codex is so highly recognized – it is an independent, professional body hosted by FAO, together with WHO.

During the week of World Food Day, we also held the annual World Food Forum with thousands of participants, including dozens of world leaders, who sat in this very Plenary Hall to reflect and discuss how to accelerate the transformation of global agrifood systems through collective solidarity, strengthened political willingness, enhanced inclusivity, and, very importantly, through science and innovation, through investment, and through the energy and passion of the youth and women, including Indigenous communities.

Every year now, Indigenous communities from around the globe come to FAO where they set up their nomadic tents to promote their culture and knowledge, food knowledge, and food culture, together with all participants, especially young people who gain valuable information on their ancestors and their origins. It is a link from tradition to modernity.

To mark these first 80 years of FAO, on 16 October – World Food Day – which is FAO’s birthday, we officially opened the doors to the Museum, together with His Excellency Sergio Mattarella, President of the Republic of Italy.

I am pleased to hear that guided visits of the Food and Agriculture Museum have been organized for you during this week. You will see history and modernity, including global diversity, not only biodiversity, but also food diversity and cultural diversity – a reflection that FAO is a truly inclusive Organization.

The Museum is a novel way to share FAO’s mandate with the world through knowledge, culture and innovation, connecting and inspiring a global audience, while celebrating diverse food and agriculture traditions, as well as modern technology and education.

As the Network expands, it will amplify the Museum’s message, linking local experiences with global knowledge and creating new opportunities for dialogue, partnership and learning.

As part of our 80th anniversary celebrations, we also hosted the first ever Global Exhibition “From Seeds to Foods”, which presented the history of agrifood systems; from the first seeds planted thousands of years ago to the latest innovations in crops, livestock, forestry, fisheries, and aquaculture, which will nourish generations to come.

Codex has been and continues to be an integral part of FAO’s work and for this reason was well represented at the Exhibition, and is also present in the Museum.

Some people know that I was a plant breeder for more than 25 years, so I really understand what biodiversity and genetic resources mean.

“From Seeds to Foods” - I used the plural because it means different kinds of seeds and different kinds of foods. Of course, in English you always use ‘food’, but here I preferred using ‘foods’.

In FAO, we should talk more about ‘foods’ and not only about ‘food’ because it is more directly linked to Codex’s mission and mandate.  

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The work of the Codex Alimentarius has enormous value; it underpins international food trade, and protects consumer health.

It supports FAO’s mandate to end hunger and malnutrition, and to ensure access for everyone to safe and nutritious foods.

We need to continue working together through ever more strengthened collaboration to ensure that the Codex norms and guidelines continue to inform decision-making and policy development, both in governments and in the private sector, across the food industry.

“From Field to Fork” - I always use simple language because I talk to farmers, I do not only talk to delegates. You are all very well educated and can use very defined scientific terms.

But being a former vice minister and a scientist, I know that when you talk with the farmers, no matter whether big or small farmers, you should use farmers’ language. I learned it from Australian farmers many years ago, who said they were “small fry” – this is the farmers’ language: from Field to Fork!

I think that is what Codex should cover, not only poisonous residues, which you have been talking about for more than 60 years since it was established.

The renewed Codex Strategic Plan is a critical document to achieve these objectives. In particular, the goal to maximise the use of Codex texts is a welcome ambition to scale up the impact of Codex to the benefit of all Members.

Codex is an important global platform to ensure inclusive and transparent participation by countries to elaborate food quality and food safety standards, as well as for the development of sustainable Codex structures as part of national food control systems.

In 1996, I was helping with assistance to the Government of China to establish a monitoring and inspection system on food safety before China’s entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2000. It was very challenging, but it has benefitted us for the past 28 years.

I am also particularly pleased to see that at this session you will discuss work on fresh fruits and vegetables. That is even closer to my personal career because I was training in horticulture from 1979 to 1983 at the Hunan Agriculture University, then worked as a researcher, and then was Deputy Director-General and Director-General of the National Institute of Vegetables and Flowers in China for six years.

We started the first monitoring and inspection centre for fresh vegetables in China. It is very challenging because in the Chinese market there are more than 1 000 commodities consumed daily, some wild vegetables you do not eat here, but in China we eat daily.

It is not only about chemical residues, but also about packaging materials and storage conditions – you need standards for the whole value chain to ensure that the final product fits the requirements of the consumer.

So, I think that if we focus on fresh fruits and vegetables, it will be the final part of the challenge. For processed foods, which normally Ministers of Health look at, it is much easier, but for the Ministers of Food and of Agriculture who look at the fresh products, especially fruits and vegetables, and aquaculture and fish, it is particularly challenging. For some big animal products, such as pork, beef and lamb, it is easier.

Fresh fruits and vegetables, including whole millet grains, are important products for safe nutritious diets, especially for those who are among the most food and nutrition insecure.

In 2023, we celebrated the International Year of Millets, with the support of the Government of India as it is an important commodity for them.

Millets are also important in China, Africa and in the Middle East because they are resilient, tolerant to draughts and salinity, and to all types of weather and extreme biotic stresses – this makes them a good choice especially now that we face global climate change.

FAO continues to be committed to the work of Codex, and in recognition of the important work you do I have proposed to increase the Codex budget for the coming biennium by half a million US Dollars within the Organization’s Programme of Work and Budget (PWB).

It is not easy. For the 2026-2027 biennium, all the UN system have had a 20 to 80 percent cut in the budget.

At FAO, with the support of the Members, and the Ministers at the FAO Ministerial Conference in June-July, my proposal for a 1.1 percent increase was endorsed. For Codex, it allowed me to increase the allocation by USD 0.5 million.

It is small money, but it shows my strong political willingness. Now, I hope that you will use this USD 0.5 million wisely to amplify funding from donors by one to five times the amount – from an additional USD 2.5 up to USD 10 million, or even more, because there are many private sector companies that are willing to support Codex. Of course, in line with Codex rules and regulations, an ensuring you maintain your neutrality and professionalism.

Alternatively, you will have to depend solely on the assessed contributions from FAO and WHO, which are limited. And to be honest even USD 5 million is not enough!

So, I wish you all the best with that small increase.

The values that underpin your discussions on food standards - collaboration, inclusiveness, and consensus building and transparency - is a commendable trait of the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

It reflects your collective goal is to achieve the greater good and to consider multiple perspectives from across the globe, aimed at leaving no one behind.

As we look to the future, let us continue working together through this partnership, with a solid science and evidence-based approach, to advance the Four Betters: Better Production, Better Nutrition, Better Environment and a Better Life - leaving no one behind.

I strongly encourage you to support the Africa Free Trade Zone capacity building. That is based on my experience in China in 1996.

Codex should be the driving force for the high quality of growth and development in the region, which has been left behind. One thing we should improve is the capacity for food safety. Not only standards written on paper, or sitting on a bookshelf, but real action on the ground. All standards should be established together with proposals for capacity building. This should be directly linked with your business model, to take it one step further.

I wish you fruitful discussions and successful outcomes that will further guide the work of this important Commission.

FAO is your home, make it your home, and be more efficient here at home!

Thank you.