The ‘Coordinating Committee for Africa’ was established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission in 1972 with a mandate to “exercise general coordination in the preparation of standards relating to the region of Africa”. The committee held its first meeting at FAO in 1974, with 19 countries in attendance.
As the new regional coordinator begins their term, the Agreement of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which came into effect in May 2020, has reinforced the need for an efficient and effective system for managing sanitary and phytosanitary measures, in particular food safety, across the continent as its borders open for trade.
The regional coordinator is based in the Uganda National Bureau of Standards, a statutory body under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Co-operatives which oversees, as part of its mandate, the promotion and use of standards.
As regional coordinator, Uganda intends to engage closely with countries via surveys, webinars and workshops to identify needs and emerging issues, create awareness of priority food safety issues and of Codex standards. A pilot study will also explore the food safety situation in broader terms across the region. By strengthening engagement with regional bodies such as the African Union, the African Organisation for Standardisation and the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, Uganda also aims to enhance advocacy work in the region.
The coronavirus outbreak has interrupted the schedule of physical meetings in Codex and led to a rethink of how countries within the Codex community, with its continuous cycle of committees and working groups, can stay connected when international meetings seem off the agenda for the time being.
On Tuesday 21 April 48 participants from 18 countries in the Codex CCAFRICA region, together with representatives from the African Union – Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources, the Economic Community of West African States, [...]
Madagascar is continuing its efforts to build the capacity of its members with the support of the Codex Trust Fund. A four-day training workshop in Antananarivo from 24-27 February 2020 set out to integrate new members and provide a refresher for more experienced members. The workshop also dealt with the redefinition of priority committees for Madagascar, the formulation of national positions, preparation for sessions as well as the use of online Codex tools. After this training, Madagascar will further improve [...]
Madagascar depends heavily on food imports to meet its food requirements. Effective and efficient control of food imports is therefore essential to facilitate food trade on the island and to protect the health of consumers.
“Several different authorities carry out inspections of those products according to their respective competences”, said Dominique Lantomalala, Codex Contact Point, Madagascar. “Most of the time, there is a lack of coordination and synergy between these actions. Faced with imports, local industries suffer and it is not [...]
Former Codex Chairperson Mrs. Awilo Ochieng Pernet calls upon Burkina Faso to strengthen its national Codex and food safety structures during the 59th Independence Anniversary Celebrations
Mrs. Awilo Ochieng Pernet, former Chairperson of the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission from 2014 to 2017 was invited to Burkina Faso to support high-level advocacy efforts in the country on food safety and Codex on the occasion of the 59th Independence Anniversary Celebrations, which took place on 11 December 2019. The objective of the advocacy was [...]
A consultative workshop on National Codex issues was organized on 6 December 2019 in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. The main objectives of the workshop were to discuss national food control systems, including Codex, and to begin preparation of a project proposal for the Codex Trust Fund.
Mr Arefaine Berhe, Minister of Agriculture, who officially opened the session, told the Ministry of Information website shabait.com that food safety was central to survival and wellbeing and that regulating national food standard had [...]
Mabel Aworh from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Nigeria reports on a week of action.
The official 'Nigeria Antibiotic Guardian Pledge' was launched at a high-level event by Senate Committee Chair on Health, Dr. Ibrahim Oloriegbe and Chair on Agriculture and Productivity, Abdullahi Adamu.
Speaking to the Daily Trust website, Oloriegbe committed to raising awareness among Nigerians on the dangers of using human and veterinary antibiotics indiscriminately and promised to communicate in mass-messaging to educate Nigerians. “The media [...]
More than 500 women from all over the country and more than 1000 participants gathered in Bobo-Dioulasso, the economic capital of western Burkina Faso to celebrate the 39th World Food Day from 14 to 16 October 2019.
Government departments responsible for food and nutrition were mobilized for the event where the National Codex Alimentarius Committee also held an exhibition to raise awareness about Codex, the best actions and practices to ensure healthy food and healthy eating. This year's World Food Day [...]
Food safety experts and officials from Mali took part in the launch of a Codex Trust Fund project on Thursday, 12 September 2019 at the International Conference Center in Bamako. The launch was chaired by Sékou Oumar Dembélé, technical advisor of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs and is part of national capacity building programmes to strengthen food safety in Mali
This initiative aims to inform and raise awareness amongst all stakeholders dealing with food safety and nutrition in the [...]
The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) came into effect on 30 May 2019 after ratification by 22 countries. AfCFTA creates a single continental market as well as a Customs Union with people, goods and service able to move freely. This will be one of the world’s largest free-trade areas in terms of the number of countries, covering more than 1.2 billion people with a combined Gross Domestic Product of more than USD 3.4 trillion. One of the central [...]
FAO Food Safety and Quality Officers reported at CCAFRICA23 on a Total Diet Study (TDS) that for the first time covered a wide geographical area and examined a high number of chemical contaminants including mycotoxins, dioxins, pesticides, and heavy metals.
A TDS is an instrument to assess the dietary exposure of populations to specific chemical contaminants. They analyze food cooked and prepared as it would be by the consumer and are representative of the foods eaten by a particular local population. [...]
