In 1976 a Coordinating Committee for Latin America, established by the 10th Codex Alimentarius Commission in 1974, held its first meeting in Rome with eight countries from the region in attendance. At its third session a proposal was made to change the name of the committee to its current form (Coordinating Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean) as this better reflected the membership of the region. In 1984 at its 31st session, the Executive Committee, acting on behalf of the Commission, agreed to this change.
The region of Latin America and the Caribbean is an important actor in the production and trade of food at a global level. The region produces enough food to supply itself and to export, with both water and land resources to produce even more.
The region has enormous natural wealth, a flourishing agricultural industry and a family farming sector that is essential for its population. The promotion and strengthening of food safety must be continued at the level of all regions to guarantee the health of consumers and fair and equitable trade.
The coordinator, Ecuador is based in AGROCALIDAD an agency attached to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. They aim to create synergies between countries in the region, to provide mutual support in order to overcome regional problems and examine solutions to common challenges.
The coordinator further aims to strengthen collaboration among countries and strengthen the participation of developing countries in the Commission and its subsidiary bodies.
On Tuesday 15 February 2022, Diego Varela, Vice-Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, visited NotCo, Chile, to learn at firsthand how plant-based products are created. NotCo was established in 2015 and aims to make plant based food look, smell, taste and function like animal based ones. The company uses artificial intelligence to decide how to combine plants to replicate the flavour and texture of animal products whilst maintaining their taste, feel and function.
Diego Varela (left) talks to NotCo staff during [...]
The Codex El Salvador Contact Point, represented by the Salvadoran Organization for Technical Regulation OSARTEC, in a follow-up to the subscription of the Strategic Plan of the National Codex Program 2022-2024 carried out in September 2021, is developing the “Workshop for the Preparation of the Annual Plan of the National Codex 2022 Programme”.
The objective of the workshop is the discussion and contributions to the Proposal of the Annual Plan of the National Codex Program 2022 with the government, private, academic [...]
Guyana launched its Codex Trust Fund (CTF) Project on 6 October, 2021 following a two-day training programme for the National Codex Committee (NCC) members. The launch, which was held at the Cara Lodge in Georgetown, was marked by the presence of Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, Advisor to the Minister of Health, Dr. Richard Blair, Advisor on CARICOM Agriculture Food Systems, Ms. Carol Thomas, Guyana’s CTF Project Consultant (Semester 1), Dr. Jean Seme Fils Alexandre, Representative from PAHO/WHO, Mr. Wilmot Garnett, IICA [...]
On 23 September 2021 the Strategic Plan of the National Codex Alimentarius Program was signed by the members of the National Codex Committee – CONACODEX – in the presence of the President of the National Quality Council, Maria Luisa Hayem Brevé, Dr. Carlos Gabriel Alvarenga, Vice Minister of Health Management and Development, Dr. Giovanni Escalante representing PAHO / WHO in El Salvador, and Lic. Raúl Peralta, Regional Director of Food Safety, of the International Regional Organization for Agricultural Health (OIRSA), [...]
For World Food Safety Day 2021, Chile’s Agency for Food Safety and Quality (ACHIPIA) organized three events aimed at three very specific demographic groups: women, the elderly and children.
On 7 June, Chile’s Minister of Agriculture, María Emilia Undurraga; the FAO representative in Chile, Eve Crowley; and the Executive Secretary of ACHIPIA, Nuri Gras, opened ACHIPIA’s World Food Safety Day celebrations with introductions to the first webinar, which was entitled “Mujeres e Inocuidad Alimentaria: muchas nueces, poco ruido.” The event focused [...]
For World Food Safety Day 2021, the competent authorities in food safety of Nicaragua carried out different activities such as: creating murals, holding talks, visiting food retail outlets, producing posters and a video to highlight the importance of food safety, all under the theme "Safe food now for a healthy tomorrow". It should be noted that the competent authorities in matters of food safety lead the national work of INFOSAN and the Codex Alimentarius, for which guidelines were implemented and [...]
A week-long series of World Food Safety Days events in Jamaica began on Sunday, May 30, with a church service held at the Webster’s Memorial United Church.
Hon. Floyd Green, the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries recorded a video address where he spoke about the importance of safe food for food security, the efforts of the government to improve food safety and the theme of the celebrations in the country “Safe food now for a healthy Jamaica”.
On June 4, the authorities [...]
This year for World Food Safety Day, the Codex Alimentarius office in Honduras organized a competition asking companies across the country to share the ways in which they were raising awareness about food safety among their employees. The announcement of the competition winners took place virtually on 8 June.
Companies chose a variety of different ways to relay the food safety message to their staff, from games, to competitions and video creation, they each commemorated this day in a “very special [...]
Dr Adriana Abud is a food safety expert who works forRede Savegnago Supermercados in Brazil. Last year, she introduced shoppers and supermarket workers to Dr Drika, her food safety “avatar.” And Dr Drika has returned this year, with new outfits for different supermarket departments.
This year, Dr Abud has developed a number of World Food Safety Day materials to promote a culture of hygiene and good practice among managers, suppliers, staff and customers of the supermarket chain she works for. She [...]
The Government of Colombia is organizing three events over three days to mark World Food Safety Day. The events will cover some fundamental issues around the subject of food safety.
On 9 June, Dr Margarita Corrales, a specialist in food safety for the Pan American Health Organization will speak on “Microbiological Risks of Foods - Focus on the Consumer.” A forum discussion has been arranged for the following day, where Carla Yojana Portillo Carrascal, an expert in animal production and the [...]
