The Codex Secretariat held a webinar in conjunction with the WHO Country office, in which the Mongolian Codex Contact Point and colleagues had the opportunity to improve their knowledge of the Online Commenting System (OCS) and digital platform for Electronic Working Groups (eWG). Participants actively engaged in the hands-on session by asking questions and interacting with the Codex Secretariat afterward. The documents used during the training can be downloaded and other relevant materials may be requested of the trainers. “A beneficial experience” – [...]

The Strategic Plan, which sets forth the vision, goals and objectives for the Codex Alimentarius Commission for the period 2020-2025 is currently under development and this week has been shared with all Codex Members and Observers for their input. “The next Strategic Plan will define how we act together in Codex in this changing world of swifter communications and scientific developments with significant implications for food safety and fair practices in food trade,” said Guilherme Costa Jr, Codex Alimentarius Chairperson. “The [...]

Round 3 of the “Call for Applications” for support from the FAO/WHO Codex Trust Fund (CTF) opened on 15 August 2018. Currently, 105 countries are eligible to apply for funding either individually or in a group application with other countries before 30 November 2018. The Codex Trust Fund provides support for up to three years to undertake key activities that build national Codex capacity. These include: awareness raising to secure political and economic support for Codex in the country; training courses for [...]

FAO and WHO are currently seeking experts, stakeholders and data related to the carry-over from feed to food of unavoidable and unintended residues of approved veterinary drugs. The three calls have been issued in preparation of the FAO/WHO Stakeholder Meeting on 7 January 2019 and the Expert Consultation Meeting on 8 to 11 January 2019 in Rome, Italy. The 23rd Codex Committee on Residue of Veterinary Drugs in Food has requested FAO and WHO to provide scientific advice to address the [...]

Chilean Codex Committee members Cassandra Pacheco and Constanza Vergara led a training workshop in Lima, Peru, on July 31 and August 2, to strengthen the technical and scientific capacities of the members of the Peruvian Codex Committee to better engage in the risk management work of the Codex Alimentarius The workshop was attended by 40 delegates, representing industry, academia, consumers and the national government. Part of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) twinning programme, the meeting focussed mainly on [...]

A seminar, "Codex Alimentarius in Portugal", was held on 22 June in Lisbon for agri-food sector experts, public and private, including competent authorities and public bodies, associations of different production chains, universities and laboratories. Issues related to Portuguese participation in the elaboration of EU positions in Codex were discussed, with the division of competences between EU Member States and the European Commission. The main issues under discussion in each of the 19 Codex Committees were also presented by the different national [...]

The International Dairy Federation (IDF), a longstanding Codex Observer organization, now has more than 1 200 dairy experts dedicated to helping ‘nourish the world with safe and sustainable dairy’, a mission that aligns well with ‘protecting health and facilitating trade’. IDF has been contributing to the development of standards for the dairy sector since 1903. With member countries representing the entire dairy chain – from farmers and processors to research centers and academia – IDF has served as technical advisor [...]

Experts from six African countries attended a workshop in Nairobi, Kenya earlier this year, to build national capacity on foresight related to food safety and ultimately to launch a process to better identify and prepare for food safety issues. The workshop, designed by FAO familiarized participants with foresight techniques that will enable them to reflect on the changing nature of food safety within food systems and support the identification of emerging food safety issues in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania and [...]

Honduran officials of the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, the Ministry of Health, the Agency for Health Regulation and the Honduran Organization of Normalization joined the national Codex Contact Point and others in Tegucigalpa to announce the start of a Codex Trust Fund 2 project. On 18-19 July two events were held to launch the efforts to strengthen food safety and international trade: a launch event complete with the signing of an inter-institutional Letter of [...]

Following the retirement of Michel Thibier as chair of the Codex Committee on General Principles (CCGP) after over 15 years of service, France has appointed a successor. Jean-Luc Angot, General Inspector of Veterinary Public Health at the French Ministry for Agriculture and Food, will guide the work of the committee that deals with all procedural and general matters.  He will preside over the next session in March 2019 where CCGP will begin to develop procedural guidance that ensures the transparency [...]