In October 2019 the 21st FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for the Latin America and the Caribbean region (CCLAC) was interrupted after only two half days of discussions as demonstrations in Santiago, Chile forced the hosts to suspend the session. The region agreed to continue working electronically to complete the agenda and this work has culminated in an online session for report adoption that took place on 11 May 2020 with over 50 participants from 20 countries. Welcoming delegates to the online adoption, [...]

Prepared by the Chairperson of Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS) in cooperation with Australia, Canada, the European Union, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States of America. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten food security due to its impact on global food supply chains. Whilst the pandemic does not create new problems, it can exacerbate existing challenges as a result of changes to food supply. The importance of the global food trade and [...]

The Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, Guilherme da Costa, Brazil, has written to FAO suggesting the cancellation of the 43rd Codex Alimentarius Commission session planned for July 2020 in Rome and to explore the opportunity to hold an online Executive Committee session to ensure that standard setting work can continue. In the communication, Da Costa expresses his concern that expert delegations will not be able to gather in Rome for the Commission not only due to global travel restrictions currently [...]

The coronavirus outbreak has interrupted the schedule of physical meetings in Codex and led to a rethink of how countries within the Codex community, with its continuous cycle of committees and working groups, can stay connected when international meetings seem off the agenda for the time being. On Tuesday 21 April 48 participants from 18 countries in the Codex CCAFRICA region, together with representatives from the African Union – Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources, the Economic Community of West African States, [...]

Members of the Codex Executive Committee met up via online video conferencing technology for an informal meeting on 2 April 2020. Discussions revolved around the subsidiary body meetings that have either been cancelled or postponed and how to maintain the momentum of standards development work that is already underway. The Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission Guilherme da Costa, Brazil, said: “This is a completely unexpected situation for us when we take a look at our field of work. Producers, transporters, [...]

COVID-19 and the related response from governments across the globe has led to the postponement or cancellation of numerous Codex subsidiary body meetings scheduled to be held in 2020. However, food safety remains an important issue and the Codex Secretariat is working together with Host Secretariats, Chairs of Committees and Chairs/Vice-Chairs of Electronic Working Groups (EWGs) to ensure that the standards development work can continue even if the committees cannot meet this year. Tom Heilandt, Codex Secretary confirmed that electronic working groups [...]

The host secretariat of the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) has confirmed that the upcoming session, due to be held in San Diego, USA from 25-29 May 2020 has been postponed due to the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19. In collaboration with the Codex Secretariat, discussions are underway to explore if the meeting could be rescheduled for early 2021 at the same location. Further details on new dates and on the work of the committee will be published [...]

            أعلنت أمانة الدستور الغذائي، بالاتفاق مع الأمانات المضيفة لكلّ من اللجنة المعنية بالملوثات في الأغذية واللجنة المعنية بفحص الواردات والصادرات الغذائية ونظم إصدار الشهادات واللجنة المعنية بأساليب التحليل وأخذ العيّنات، إلغاء الدورات المقررة بفعل التفشي الراهن لفيروس كورونا COVID-19.             ويقول Tom Heilandt، أمين الدستور الغذائي "نظرًا إلى تفاقم الأوضاع، لا بد لنا من إعطاء تأكيدات للجهات المعنية بتنظيم هذه الدورات وللمشاركين فيها. ولقد ناقشنا المسألة مع كل من الأمانات المضيفة للاطلاع على الأوضاع السائدة في بلدانها وأود أن أتوجه [...]

يشارك في اجتماعات الدستور الغذائي خبراء من جميع أنحاء العالم ويتضمن الجدول الزمني للدورات لعام 2020 انعقاد 15 لجنة في مقار دولية متعددة في القارات الخمس. وتنص التوجيهات التي أصدرتها منظمة الأغذية والزراعة للموظفين، بما فيهم أمانة الدستور الغذائي، في أعقاب تفشي فيروس كورونا COVID-19 على أن يكون السفر مقتصرًا على "البعثات الحرجة والسفر الأساسي من حيث عامل الوقت". ومعنى هذا على سبيل المثال إرجاء حلقة العمل المقررة للأمانات المضيفة للجان التي كان من المزمع عقدها في فرنسا خلال الفترة [...]

Madagascar is continuing its efforts to build the capacity of its members with the support of the Codex Trust Fund. A four-day training workshop in Antananarivo from 24-27 February 2020 set out to integrate new members and provide a refresher for more experienced members. The workshop also dealt with the redefinition of priority committees for Madagascar, the formulation of national positions, preparation for sessions as well as the use of online Codex tools. After this training, Madagascar will further improve [...]