El Comité Coordinador para África fue creado por la Comisión del Codex Alimentarius en 1972, con el mandato de ejercer “la coordinación general en la preparación de normas relativas a la región de África”. El comité celebró su primera reunión en la FAO en 1974, con la asistencia de 19 países.
Al iniciarse el mandato del nuevo coordinador regional, el Acuerdo sobre la Zona de Libre Comercio Continental Africana (AfCFTA, por sus siglas en inglés), que entró en vigor en mayo de 2020, ha reforzado la necesidad de contar con un sistema eficiente y eficaz para gestionar las medidas sanitarias y fitosanitarias, en particular la inocuidad alimentaria, en todo el continente a medida que sus fronteras se abren al comercio.
El coordinador regional tiene su sede en la Oficina Nacional de Normalización de Uganda, un organismo estatutario dependiente del Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Cooperativas que supervisa, en el marco de su mandato, la promoción y el uso de las normas.
Como coordinador regional, Uganda tiene la intención de colaborar estrechamente con los diferentes países a través de encuestas, seminarios web y talleres para identificar las necesidades y los nuevos problemas, y generar conciencia sobre los temas prioritarios en materia de inocuidad de los alimentos y sobre las normas del Codex. También se analizará la situación de la inocuidad de los alimentos en la región en términos más amplios a través de un estudio piloto. Al fortalecer la colaboración con organismos regionales como la Unión Africana, la Organización Africana de Normalización y la Secretaría de la Zona de Libre Comercio Continental Africana, Uganda pretende asimismo mejorar la labor de incidencia en la región.
A workshop held 11-12 April 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya is providing participants from COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) with a science-based approach for risk assessment and management of mycotoxins.
Mycotoxin contamination of food commodities poses major challenges to both public health and trade. While it remains a global problem, this is particularly relevant in some regions of the world where dietary exposure to mycotoxins is still unacceptably high. Effective national and regional programmes for reducing mycotoxins contamination require [...]
In October 2017 Steve Mambu, Laboratory Director at the National Standards Laboratory in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry spoke about the launch of the National Codex Committee in Liberia.
At a recent Codex workshop in Nairobi we caught up with Steve again and asked him for an update on progress.
In Liberia food standards are key to facilitating trade.
Steve: As a result of the assessment of the food safety situation in Liberia, it was recommended we establish a food law. So I can tell you we [...]
https://youtu.be/T4JoRWku43c
The two-day Regional Technical Workshop for National Codex Contact Points held in Nairobi, Kenya 6-7 February 2018 brought together participants from close to 25 African countries. Staff from the Codex Secretariat delivered a training course to help staff working in national Codex systems participate in the Codex international standard-setting environment. Participants learnt how to navigate the new Codex website and worked with online web tools such as the Online Registration System (ORS); the Online Commenting System (OCS); and the Digital platform [...]
A two-day Regional Technical Workshop for National Codex Contact Points has concluded in Kenya's capital Nairobi, bringing together participants from close to 25 African countries, with the majority working within the areas of food safety and international standards. The workshop supported skills and knowledge development to increase practical capacity and ability of staff working in national Codex systems and to facilitate their successful operation in the Codex international standard-setting environment. This is through the use of electronic tools, such as [...]
Every country needs a good policy on food safety legislation.
Liberia launched its National Codex Committee in August of this year in what the Director of County Health Services in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Cuallau Jabbeh Howe described as a 'collective effort'. “Every country needs a good policy on food safety legislation, and the Ministry of Health is working in that direction, because we are charged with the responsibility of protecting our citizens in our borders. There is an urgent [...]
Experts meet in Kampala to discuss standards for fresh fruits and vegetables
Kampala, 2nd October 2017 – Experts in food and agriculture sector are meeting in Kampala for a week to discuss standards for fresh fruits and vegetables including garlic, potatoes and eggplants, kiwi fruits and fresh dates.
Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
This session of the Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (CCFFV) is co-hosted by the Government of Uganda together with the Government of Mexico.
Speaking at the opening [...]
CCAFRICA Coordinator and Executive Committee Member of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, Dr. Moses Gathura Gichia has recently announced his retirement from public service and as the Coordinator of the Joint FAO/WHO Regional Coordinating Committee for Africa.
It has been a pleasure working alongside Codex. It was just an amazing yet a profoundly rewarding experience.
Dr Gathura wished Codex "every success in shaping and mapping the global path towards a better level of protecting consumer health and fair trade practices in food”.
35 years [...]
https://youtu.be/KRbDYSCOJVw
This video report from CNBC Africa reviews the 22nd session of the FAO/WHO Regional Coordinating Committee for Africa which met in Nairobi, Kenya earlier this month.
Reporter Charles Gitonga highlights the main challenges regarding food safety in the region and the ongoing work of the Codex Alimentarius to ensure, through establishing international food standards, that food is safe and that it can be traded fairly.
The 20th session of the FAO/WHO Regional Coordinating Committee for the African region began yesterday in Nairobi, Kenya.
The continent of Africa consists of 54 very diverse countries covering 11.7 million square miles. Trade in region now runs in excess of 50 billion USD a year.
Delegates from the 49 countries that make up the CCAFRICA region are meeting to address the food safety and trade issues most relevant to Africa.
Hon Adan Mohammed opens CCAFRICA22
Hon Adan Mohammed, Cabinet Secretary for the Kenyan [...]
CCAFRICA has been involved in strengthening National Codex Committees in Lesotho,Swaziland and Zimbambwe.
This has empowered CCAFRICA to participate in the global standard development process and reap the benefits of implementing Codex Standards. CCAFRICA acknowledges the support of FAO in this endevour.
A workshop sponsored by the AU-IBAR was held in December 2015 in Senegal on Strengthening of National Codex Committees in the ECOWAS region block.
