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 25th session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa has concluded, following in-depth discussions on topics of regional concern and on new work proposals, and with the nomination of the Gambia as the new Regional Coordinator.
“I think we have been very accommodating to each other, to ensure we have been able to work swiftly through this session, to have documents that will be proceeding to the next stages,” said the Chairperson, Hakim Mufumbiro, upon adoption of the meeting report. [...]
The 25th session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa has commenced in Kampala, Uganda, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Committee.
All speakers at the opening ceremony acknowledged the regional and global challenges faced by countries in the CCAFRICA region, and recognized Codex as key in addressing those challenges related to food safety and trade. “Emerging hazards, climate change, and new technologies require our regulatory systems to adapt quickly,” said the Honourable Francis Mwebesa, Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives. [...]
As the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa (CCAFRICA) prepares to host its first fully in-person session since the pandemic, we sat down with Hakim Mufumbiro, Chair of the meeting. Hakim shared insights into the challenges and expectations of returning to a physical format, the critical agenda items that will steer the region's food safety strategies, and his vision for this meeting.
Hakim, thank you for joining us. While you are a familiar face in the Codex family, there might be new [...]
The Entidade Reguladora Independente da Saúde (ERIS) of Cabo Verde participated in the 17th ordinary meeting of the National Codex Alimentarius Commission (CNCA) on December 17, 2024.
The main objectives of the meeting were to present the balance of: the CNCA's Activity Plan for 2024; the Codex Alimentarius Trust Fund Project - Cabo Verde (FFC II - CV 2024); and the STDF/PPG/869 Project funded by the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) program. In the meeting also discussed and analyzed the proposed [...]
Wednesday 27November 2024 marked a significant milestone for Somalia when the country’s first World Food Safety Day celebrations were commemorated, following an introductory exhibition for the main celebration, held on 25 November 2024 at the Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Science at the Somali National University. The broad objective of the 25 November event was to raise awareness and educate community on the importance of safe food practices to protect consumers from food safety hazards. Students showcased the best handling practices [...]
Last year, with the support of the Codex Trust Fund, Mauritius developed a National Codex Manual, a Standard Operating Procedure for a transparent standard-setting procedure and also organized an extensive training programme on the Codex process in which a mock Codex session was also facilitated.
Mauritius has now embarked on yet another milestone for harmonizing National food standards with those of Codex. A training programme on implementation of a strategy for this purpose was conducted today in Port Louis at the [...]
Nigeria's National Policy on Food Safety and Quality and its Implementation Plan 2023 (NPFSQIP) was officially launched by the federal government of Nigeria on 7 June 2024 during the World Food Safety Day commemoration activity in Abuja. The document aims to advance food safety in Nigeria through a comprehensive and sustainable system with coherent action plans. It includes a situation analysis, policy framework, institutional and legislative framework, implementation plan, funding mechanism and information on monitoring and evaluation.
The Global Alliance for [...]
To commemorate and celebrate World Food Safety Day on 7 June 2024, the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST) partnered with the London Professional Training Centre (LPTC) in Nigeria to mark the 2024 World Food Safety Day with the theme: ”Food Safety-Prepare for the Unexpected” at Otto Whitesand Market, Ebute-Metta, Lagos State,the largest market forseafoods (stockfish, periwinkle, prawns, etc.) snails and raw food items where both wholesalers and retailers converge to ply their trade in Lagos State, which [...]
The African Union Commission's African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) and the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) are organizing a webinar to celebrate World Food Safety Day, with the support of the EU-AU Partnership for Resilient, Inclusive and Safe food systems for Everyone (UP-RISE) and Food Safety for Africa (FS4Africa) projects. The webinar is on the subject of “Bridging Gaps in the Informal Sector”
Date: 27 June 2024 Time: 14:00 CESTRegister here
Read more on UP-RISEhttps://www.uprisefoodsafety.org/
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World Food Safety Day website World [...]
By Lusubilo Witson Mwamakamba (WHO AFRO), Sansan Kambire (FAO RAF) and Hakim Mufumbiro (CCAFRICA)
The world in general, and Africa in particular, has shown enthusiasm and exceptional mobilization to commemorate World Food Safety Day around the theme “Preparing for the unexpected". This year once again the Regional Office for Africa of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAORAF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Programme (WFP), the African Union-InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) and the [...]