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.
In Nigeria’s state of Lagos, students are taking part in a project about training in food safety and good handling practices. They will celebrate World Food Safety Day as part of their training programme and plan activities at a local abattoir. They will have an interview session with meat sellers and consumers and have prepared information placards for the event.
They will also give a presentation covering key aspects of safe meat production and handling and have modelled their messaging around [...]
The South African Association for Food Science and Technology is planning a webinar to celebrate World Food Safety Day. The event will take place on 2 June at noon local time (10:00 GMT) with an exciting line up of speakers, including Professor Lucia Anelich, of Anelich Consulting food safety solutions, Susan Featherstone, CEO of SAAFoST and Jane Nock, Chief Technical Food Science Officer for in2food, South Africa.
SAAFoST includes scientists, technologists and other professionals serving the food and allied industries in [...]
A team in Burkina Faso dedicated to organizing activities for World Food Safety Day, met in Ouagadougou on 7 May 2021 to set out a plan for the 7 June celebration and the key messages to disseminate nationally.
Some of the major food safety concerns in the country include the misuse of pesticides in agriculture on fruits, vegetables and cereals and the use of veterinary drugs. Sales of street food without adequate food safety checks are also on the rise, as [...]
Lantomalala Raharinosy Codex Contact Point Madagascar
Despite the context of the Covid 19 pandemic and related restrictions, the National Codex Alimentarius Committee of Madagascar held two days of meetings (partly virtual and partly face-to-face) from 6 to 7 May 2021 which made it possible to develop a procedural manual and establish a 2021-2023 three-year plan based on the Codex Strategic Plan.
These two documents will certainly help us to facilitate the implementation of Codex activities and to improve the effective participation of [...]
By Hakim Baligeya Mufumbiro Uganda National Bureau of Standards Coordinator for the Codex African Region
Partner States in the East African Community (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda) participated in an online training on Codex Electronic Working Platform and Online Commenting System from 28 to 30 April 2021 as one of the capacity building activities to enhance the skill and knowledge of stakeholders in the region in order to better engage and participate in the Codex activities. Considering the [...]
On Thursday 15 April 2021, at the Hotel Ivotel, Abidjan-Plateau, Côte d'Ivoire launched a Capacity Building Project for the National Codex Alimentarius Committee, a project funded by the Codex Trust Fund 2.
Chaired by Mr. KOUASSI Kouamé Bernard, Technical Advisor to the Minister of State, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the opening ceremony recorded the physical presence of Mrs. N'GORAN Patricia, SUN Focal Point and Technical Advisor to the Presidency of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, Dr ZOMBRE, Daogo Sosthene, [...]
Kenya is in high gear in preparation for the World Food Safety Day celebrations as the national WFSD2021 planning committee meets for the third time. In the discussions, the line-up of activities include:
Pre-event activities, such as digital and social media campaigns, print media campaigns as well as TV and radio awareness programmes.
During the event activities, which will include live virtual forums, newspaper supplement, live Twitter chats and live streaming on various social media platforms to discuss various food safety concerns.
Post-event [...]
Malawi launched its Codex Trust Fund Project on 1 April 2021 at the Sunbird Capital Hotel in Lilongwe.
The Minister of Health for Malawi, the Honourable Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, MP, presided over the launch of the project entitled: “Building Strong, Solid and Sustainable National Capacity to Engage in Codex”.
The launch was attended by various stakeholders whose activities are related to Codex, food safety, agriculture, trade, health and human nutrition. These included Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies from Agriculture, Health, Trade, Industry [...]
Kenya, in an effort to streamline and increase efficiency for participation in Codex work recently reconstituted its National Codex Committee. On Tuesday 2 March 2021, the Codex Contact Point, housed in the Kenya Bureau of Standards held an induction programme for the newly reconstituted committee. “This move was to ensure maximum representation from all key food safety players,” said Maryann Kindiki who is the new Codex Contact Point for Kenya. Among the issues discussed were how the Codex Alimentarius Commission [...]
A joint seminar/webinar organized by FAO Animal Production and Health Division, the Statistics Division and the FAO Livestock Technical Network entitled:
How can we improve data gathering on antimicrobial usage at national level? Lessons from Uganda.
will take place on Thursday 15 October 2020 from 11:00-12:00 (GMT+2).
Zoom Registration.
Click here for further details.
