by the Codex Contact Point of Uganda and the Coordinator for CCAFRICA   The Codex Committee on Fats and Oils (CCFO) held its 29th Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, bringing together member countries and observers to deliberate on key standards and issues like industrially produced trans fatty acids (iTFAs), deliberations on microbial Omega-3 oils, discussion on the list of acceptable cargoes, matters related to the olive oils, alongside the assessment of four new work proposals in the fats and oils sector. The [...]

The 29th session of the Codex Committee on Fats and Oils has officially opened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The opening ceremony was graced by the presence of Minister of Health Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, Director-General of Health Malaysia, Mahathar bin Abd Wahab, Vice Chairpersons of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), Jing Tian and Khaled al Zharani, and Sarah Cahill, CAC Secretary. The proceedings will be chaired this week by Deputy Director-General of Health, Food Safety and Quality, Ministry [...]

The Republic of Korea marked its appointment as host country of the Codex Committee on Processed Fruits and Vegetables (CCPFV) with a commemorative event held on 5 February in Seoul. Hosted by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), the event brought together approximately 200 participants from government, international organizations, academia and the food industry, both in person and online. Representatives from the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) were [...]

Zailina Abdelmajid is the new Chairperson of the Codex Committee on Fats and Oils (CCFO) and will chair the 29th CCFO session when it takes place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 9–13 February. She is not, however, new to the work of this Committee, having worked in the CCFO Secretariat since 2013.  We asked Zailina to tell us a bit about herself and about her hopes and expectations for her tenure as Chairperson. She also talked about the work to be undertaken [...]

by the Sultanate of Oman as Coordinator for CCNE   Codex Contact Points (CCPs) from the CCNE region and Arab Member Countries convened on 26 January 2026 for the 44th Coordination Meeting, chaired by Dr. Intisar Al-Gharibi, CCNE Coordinator from the Sultanate of Oman. The meeting was held under the umbrella of the Arab Codex Initiative, jointly implemented by the Arab Industrial Development, Standardization and Mining Organization (AIDSMO) and the Global Food Regulatory Science Society (GFoRSS), the disciplinary group of IUFoST, reinforcing [...]

The FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa (CCAFRICA) celebrated a significant milestone on 26 January 2026, with the official handover ceremony of the CCAFRICA Coordinator from Uganda to The Gambia. The historic event took place at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre in Banjul, The Gambia. The ceremony was attended by high-level government officials, international partners, and members of the Codex Alimentarius Commission from across Africa, including the Codex Chairperson. The occasion was graced by the Vice-President of the Republic [...]

by the CCP of Saudi Arabia   A delegation from the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), headed by its Chairperson, Allan Azegele, visited the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA)’s Interactive Awareness Center. The visit took place during the delegation’s trip to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the sidelines of an international workshop held by SFDA in Riyadh. The delegation included the Codex Vice-Chairs, the former Chairperson of CAC, Coordinators, the Codex Secretariat, and representatives from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the [...]

Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), is holding a three-day workshop, 20-22 January 2026, in Riyadh, titled “One Codex: together we learn, together we lead”. The workshop aims to strengthen collaboration, leadership and coordination among Codex coordinators, and highlights the importance of Codex regions for the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC).  In welcoming the participants, H.E. Prof. Hisham Saad Al Jadhey, CEO of SFDA, stressed that “the gathering of Codex leaders in this workshop represents a platform for exchanging expertise and knowledge, and exploring opportunities [...]

by the European Union Codex Contact Point   From 13 to 15 January 2026, the European Union (EU) hosted a Better Training for Safer Food (BTSF) workshop entitled Supporting Effective Participation in Codex Activities for EU Member States. Designed for new and recently appointed EU Codex delegates and Contact Points, the training addressed a shared challenge across the Codex membership: how to enable newcomers to contribute effectively to Codex work from the outset? Starting off with rules and procedures the workshop combined science-based [...]

By Anne Beutling, CCUERO Coordinator At the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), held in Berlin from 14 to 17 January 2026 at the beginning of Green Week, agriculture ministers from 59 countries adopted a joint communiqué highlighting the need to improve water efficiency in agriculture while fully safeguarding food safety and public health. Alongside, high-level representatives from 13 International Organisations, including FAO and WTO, took part in the Agriculture Ministers’ Conference. In this context, ministers explicitly encouraged the use of [...]