Fran Freeman to Chair first committee session in Brisbane, Australia
Ahead of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS) meeting that opens next week in Brisbane, Australia, new Chair Fran Freeman spoke to Codex.
Q. Many in the Codex world may not know you as you lead the upcoming CCFICS session for the first time. Can you tell us something about you?
Having spent most of my career working on domestic and international issues affecting Australian agriculture, I am acutely aware how important it is for international [...]
20 October 2018
Webinar addressing food safety in a nuclear emergency
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is holding a webinar on “Food Safety in a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency” on 23 October 2018 at 11:00-14:30 UTC. The web-based discussion aims to help national experts be prepared in case of an emergency involving a significant release of radioactive material into the environment that makes water, local produce, milk from grazing animals and other foods unsafe for consumption.
The IAEA safety standards call for [...]
19 October 2018
Codex featured at the World Dairy Summit
Tom Heilandt, Codex Secretary, and Professor Yong Ho Park, Chairperson of the Codex Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance, highlighted Codex food standards as panellists in two different sessions of the 2018 International Dairy Federation (IDF) World Dairy Summit in Daejeon, Korea, this week.
“Food is more than just eating, but comfort,” Heilandt said in the keynote speech of the session on food safety. “We tend to take its safety for granted. Food is fragile. That’s why we need to work together to [...]
19 October 2018
Ban Ki-moon encourages Codex for World Food Safety Day
Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), expressed support for creating a World Food Safety Day on the margins of this year’s International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit in Daejeon, Korea, where he gave the keynote address on 15 October. “The development of a World Food Safety Day in the UN is good idea,” he said, recalling that the process to establish UN observances is driven by Member States.
In a meeting with Tom Heilandt, Codex Secretary, and Professor [...]
17 October 2018
Guyana ups its Codex game
Earlier this year, the Codex Secretariat launched a series of workshops in the six Codex regions that are having a direct impact on the operational capacity of countries to engage in the standard-setting process. More participants are now expressing national positions via the Online Commenting System (OCS) and the Digital platform for Electronic Working Groups.
Linked to the workshops, the Codex Secretariat is currently holding a series of follow-up webinars tailored to users’ requests and may include the use of the OCS and [...]
15 October 2018
Innovative approaches to regulatory cooperation
Policymakers, practitioners and researchers gathered at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva for non-tariff measures week 2018 - Shaping Sustainable Trade amid Protectionism, to discuss issues surrounding the impact of non-tariff measures (NTMs).
NTMs are policy measures - other than ordinary customs tariffs - that can potentially have an economic effect on international trade in goods, changing quantities traded, or prices or both. Examples include Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures; Technical Barriers to Trade and Contingent Trade-protective [...]
11 October 2018
FAO/WHO scientific review of histamines in salmonids now published
Ahead of developing new international guidance for the control of histamine in fish and fishery products, the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene requested FAO and WHO to provide scientific information to consider whether salmonids, which have an extensive global market, should be included in this new guidance. The literature review developed by FAO and WHO on the risk of histamine development in fish of the Salmonidae family and the potential impact on human health, is now available online.
Histamine is a naturally [...]
08 October 2018
Top Tips for a successful Codex Trust Fund application
The FAO/WHO Codex Trust Fund has just issued “Top Tips for Smart Applications”. The three questions and seven “tips” help countries understand what to emphasize in their applications and what to avoid.
The Codex Trust Fund supports individual or group projects for a maximum period of three years. These projects are meant to address key weaknesses in national Codex structures and build the basis for effective and sustained engagement in the Codex process.
“It is important that applicant countries really identify a [...]
04 October 2018
ePing: a tool to discover changes in trading partners’ product requirements
Staying abreast of the evolving regulatory landscape affecting the food trade can be a challenge. Yet it is vital for both public and private sector stakeholders to find out in a timely manner when changes are on their way. This is where ePing can help. ePing is of potential interest to Codex Members and Observers -government agencies, standardizing bodies, producers, exporters, importers, service providers, international organizations, research institutes and NGOs.
World Trade Organization (WTO) member governments are required to notify other [...]
24 September 2018
Better training for safer food
A workshop organised by the European Union "Better Training for Safer Food" initiative took place in September 2018 in Cape Town, South Africa, for the Codex members of the African Region. The aim of the workshop was to provide the necessary tools to be effective delegates in Codex.
In line with the strong and positive message of Jean-Claude Juncker President of the European Commission, Barbara Moretti, of the EU Codex Team, said that this was also an excellent opportunity to reinforce cooperation and [...]
24 September 2018
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