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.
As the new CCAFRICA Coordinator, The Gambia commits to serve as a strong pillar in codex work for the African region and will provide strong leadership and positive influence for a better, stronger, and united Africa in food safety and trade facilitation while leaving no one behind.
Our priority focus would be on effective participation in Codex work, capacity development, advocacy, resource mobilsation and harmonization of standards, guidelines, and regulations. The completed CCAFRICA implementation plan of the Codex Strategic Plan 2026 – 2031, will be the basis for consolidating and galvanizing the CCAFRICA region to achieve the goals of the Codex five-year plan.
Effective and sustained communication and consultation with members, stakeholders, partners and the Codex secretariat will be the basic tool for our success. We will leverage on existing tools and platforms while at the same time embracing new technologies in closing the digital divide. Together, we will make the food in the region safer, more nutritious, and highly tradable.
Eritrea has celebrated World Food Safety Day for the second consecutive year, this year. The Eritrean Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) organized a commemorative observance with the participation of representatives from ministries, regional administrations, national associations, higher educational institutions, the country offices of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), stakeholders of development programmes, agriculture experts and food processors.
The ceremony took place on 7 June at the National Confederation of Eritrean Workers’ [...]
A webinar will be held to commemorate World Food Safety Day in Africa under the theme: "Preparing for Food Safety Emergencies in the African Region".
The event is convened through collaboration by the Regional Offices for FAO and WHO, the World Food Programme, the African Union - InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources and the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa.
The main objective of the regional webinar is to create awareness amongst stakeholders in the region in order to generate discussions and ideas [...]
By KEMBOU Etienne, Technical Officer Food Safety and Nutrition, WHO Multi-Country Assignment Teams (MCAT);Dr LAOUALI ABDOU Aissatou and RABO Souleymane, Food Safety and Nutrition Team WHO Country Office Niger;DIOFFO Salou, Codex Contact Point, Ministry of Public Health, Population and Social Affairs Niger
As a prelude to the commemoration of World Food Safety Day 2024, thirty people, including representatives of administrative sectors, Civil Society Organizations, technical and financial partners and academics, were briefed on the organization, institutional structure, functioning, roles and [...]
By: Maryann Kindiki- CCP, Kenya
Kenya is in top gear in its preparations for World Food Safety Day 2024.
On 30 April the national planning committee convened to engage media for a briefing on the theme of this year’s World Food Safety Day commemoration. This is aimed at guiding the media on the theme to ensure informed reporting.
The planning committee is chaired by the Ministry of Health and comprises government agencies, academia and research, private sector alliances and associations, media and [...]
By Funwako Dlamini, CCP for Eswatini, Milagrosa Mondlane, SWASA, Hakim Mufumbiro, Regional Coordinator CCAFRICA and John Oppong-Otoo, AU-IBAR
A training session has taken place 3–5 April 2024 in Ezulwini, Eswatini, to equip national stakeholders with improved capacities as part of the country’s efforts to establish and strengthen engagement in Codex.
The training was attended by 25 trainees drawn from different state and non-state actors who are part of the National Codex Committee (NCC) and who have responsibility for food safety along the [...]
In a Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) first for the CCAFRICA region, Kenya has become Chair to the CCFA in-session working group (WG) on priorities. This is the group that establishes priority lists of food additives for risk assessment by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA).
We asked the new in-session WG Chairperson, Mr Peter Mutua, about why Kenya wanted to take on this role and what advice he has for fellow CCAFRICA Members, and the wider [...]
The National Codex Committee (CNCA) in Cabo Verde has been active in recent weeks, planning the year’s activities and unveiling the CNCA website.
On 8 March, the 16th ordinary meeting of the CNCA was held, with the aim of analyzing the CNCA Activity Plan for 2024, focusing on the process of activating the national Codex subcommittees.
At the meeting information was presented on the Cabo Verde Codex Trust Fund Project activities to be carried out in 2024, as well as on updates [...]
Over the last few years, food safety has been prioritized across the African continent, as evidenced by, for example, its new African Union (AU) Food Safety Strategy 2022-2036, which was launched on World Food Safety Day 2022, and now Kenya’s leadership in the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH) on new guidelines for food hygiene control measures in traditional markets for food. According to the African Union’s Food Safety Officer, John Oppong-Otoo, 70 percent of urban households in Africa rely [...]
On 6 February 2024, a validation workshop on a study on the use of Codex Alimentarius standards in Benin took place in Cotonou, Benin. This workshop brought together members of the National Codex Alimentarius Committee, actors from the private and public sectors that use these standards, and consumer associations. The general objective of this study is to know the level of use of international Codex standards. Specifically, the aim was to identify the uses made of international Codex standards in [...]
By Ms. Sylvia KIRABO, Head of Public Relations and Marketing, Uganda National Bureau of Standards
As part of the Codex Trust Fund (CTF) Group project currently being implemented in five Countries of the East African Community (EAC), a regional validation meeting was held in Mombasa, Kenya, from 15th to 17th of November 2023. The meeting, with participants from Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, South Sudan and Uganda, focused on the use and implementation of the Code of Practice for the Prevention and Reduction [...]
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