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.
By Hakim B. Mufumbiro, Regional Coordinator, FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa
Food Safety Experts drawn from 23 African countries (Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe) completed an intensive 5-day training session on Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) for animal disposition studies that was held in Rabat, Morocco ,31 March to 4 April 2025. The main purpose of the training was to [...]
By Milagrosa Mondlane, Secretary, National Codex Committee, Eswatini Standards Authority
The Eswatini National Codex Committee (NCC) convened a national meeting on Friday 21 March 2025 at the Eswatini Standards Authority to review and plan strategic activities for the 2025/26 period. This critical session aimed to strengthen Eswatini’s engagement with the international Codex Alimentarius framework and ensure that national food safety and quality standards align with global best practices.
The discussions focused on reviewing past performance, identifying challenges, and setting priorities for the [...]
Madame Adana Maimouna heads up a 1200-member shea butter cooperative society in Nahouri province, Burkina Faso. Every member of her cooperative is a woman.
The shea butter sector is dominated by women, who make up 98 percent of the entrepreneurs within the supply chain in countries across West Africa. According to Adana, the income women earn from working in the shea butter sector allows them both to support their families and to contribute to the development of their communities. Since the adoption [...]
As part of the Codex Trust Fund project in Zimbabwe, FAO has carried out training to disseminate knowledge and build capacity, particularly in relation to the Codex standards-setting process. The four-day workshop took place 3–7 February 2025 and was attended by participants from both the public and private sectors.
“The training is part of the Codex Trust Fund project, which seeks to rejuvenate Codex Alimentarius activities in Zimbabwe by expanding knowledge and understanding of Codex at national level among key policy [...]
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 [...]
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