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.
Food safety is a shared responsibility. The Zimbabwe 2020 WFSD commemoration will bring together, through a webinar, all key players in the food system to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their operations, posed threats to food safety and how these threats are being managed. The stakeholders will also discuss what they are doing to ensure food safety in their work, the challenges they are facing and what support they require to ensure their efforts yield results.
The event will [...]
La sensibilisation sur la COVID-19 au cœur de la commémoration
Le comité national du Codex Alimentarius participe au combat de la riposte à la pandémie de COVID-19 en marge de la commémoration de la deuxième Journée Internationale de la Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments (JISSA) au Burkina Faso. L’enceinte de la société générale des viandes de Ouagadougou, l’une des unités modèle de vente et de distribution des produits carnés a servi de cadre au lancement des activités.
En partenariat avec l’Organisation des Nations [...]
“On June 7 we celebrate World Food Safety Day, because every person has a right to safe food for a nutritious and healthy diet.
However, each year, 91 million people in sub-Saharan Africa suffer from acute food-borne illness and 137,000 sadly lose their lives.”
These were the opening words of the video message WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, recorded for World Food Safety Day.
Watch the video.
In the context of World Food Safety Day celebrations in Angola, FAO - together with WHO, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Social Action, Family and Women Empowerment - launched an awareness campaign about food safety.
Messages focused on the need for salespeople to apply good hygiene practices and handle food with clean hands, as well as the need to display products on clean surfaces. Consumers, on the other hand, are advised to wash their food well [...]
TV news report from Senegal (in French) on the celebrations for World Food Safety Day.
Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise: http://live.rts.sn/home/player/11859
In early June 2020, the Afrotropic Cocoa Processing Company Ltd in Accra, Ghana marked World Food Safety Day with a series of initiatives. All workers were reminded of issues that could bring about food safety problems or foodborne illness. This information was conveyed through pep talks at the start of every shift as well as the use of visuals, which included a poster on the ’Ten Golden Rules of Food Safety’ and the 2020 FAO/WHO campaign materials.
WFSD in grand style [...]
To commemorate World Food Safety Day, the Independent Health Regulatory Entity (ERIS), the Chamber of Commerce (CCISS), the representation of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Cabo Verde and the Association for the Defense of Consumers (ADECO), met with the press to highlight the theme of the celebration: "Food safety, everyone's responsibility".
Read the full story in Portuguese: https://www.eris.cv/index.php/noticias/1630-eris-e-parceiros-assinalam-dia-mundial-da-seguranca-sanitaria-dos-alimentos
Dr Adelheid Onyango, Regional Nutrition Advisor, WHO Office for the Region of African explains the importance of food safety in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. Dr Onyango tells us the significance of World Food Safety Day celebrated last week and everyone’s role in ensuring food safety and its implication for good health for all. She underlines the importance of markets as a critical social place in this region and the challenges faced to ensure the provision of safe and healthy food [...]
A 1.5-hour talk about ‘No food security without food safety’ on YouTube, moderated by Charles Katsande of FoodBev International Consulting Pty Ltd, saw the participation of 92 people on 5 June 2020. Organized by the South Africa-based organization, the event connected people from many parts of the world including various countries in Africa and Europe as well as Australia, Canada, India and the United States.
A sub-theme of ‘know food safety, no harm’ was also developed.
The panel of five experts each [...]
Blaise Ouattara, responsable de la sécurité sanitaire et qualité des aliments au bureau régional de la FAO pour l'Afrique, répond aux questions d’une journaliste de RFI pour parler de l’impact de la COVID-19 sur la sécurité sanitaire des aliments et les défis à relever. Il explique également les effets positifs de la pandémie, notamment au niveau des mesures d’hygiène et souligne l’importance de pratiquer les Cinq clefs de l’OMS pour des aliments plus sûrs.
Vous pouvez écouter le podcast sur : http://rfi.my/61Kl.W [...]
