The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), organized a Regional Meeting on Food Safety Regulation Convergence from 18 to 22 July 2022 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The meeting was attended by Codex Contact Point Officers, National Plant Health Protection Officers, Chief Veterinary Officers, Private Sector Representatives and other experts from fifteen ECOWAS Member States (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote [...]

The Avocado Packing Company S.A.C. of the Mission South & Central America group celebrated "World Food Safety Day" this year with the motto: "Safe food, better health". Celebrations consisted of sending different flyers to company staff, as well as inviting staff to participate in the "World of Safety" game. This consisted of answering questions related to food safety to advance in the game. Notebooks and pens were given out as prizes for correct answers. The questions were prepared according to the [...]

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) together with national food safety bodies across Europe highlighted their joint communication campaign #EUChooseSafeFood for World Food Safety Day 2022. The focus was to inspire Europeans to make food choices with confidence by raising awareness about the science behind food safety.  The partners also marked World Food Safety Day by  recognising the efforts of food safety actors to safeguard consumer health every day of the year. Among EFSA’s activities were: Cross-promotion with international partners - coordinating [...]

A live event will take place for all Codex Members and Observers on Friday 29 July 2022 from 12:00 to 13:00 CEST via Zoom. With interpretation in six languages, all those wishing to learn more about the arrangements for the 45th session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC45) will be able to hear directly from the Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the Codex Secretary about the plans for the return to a physical session at FAO, Rome, Italy [...]

By Maryann Kindiki Codex Contact Point, Kenya (pictured left) The Codex Contact Point in Kenya in collaboration with the FAO Country Office held a national food safety workshop in Nairobi, Kenya on 20 July 2022 with the objective of building a solid collaboration between public and private sector towards achieving food safety at national level. The workshop was graced by the presence of FAO Country Representative for Kenya, Carla Mucavi (pictured second left). The engagements at the workshop were through panel discussions [...]

LSG Group celebrated World Food Safety Day with special events happening at LSG Sky Chefs facilities around the world. Many of the company’s employees joined in the celebration. Together, they not only created awareness for food safety but also showed their commitment. As a quality and technology leader in airline catering, food safety is an integral part of the LSG Group’s business. “It is only logical that we shine a spotlight on this highly important topic and celebrate World Food [...]

The new AMR Codex Texts (ACT) project “Implementation of Codex standards to support containment and reduction of foodborne antimicrobial resistance” now has a national project coordinator in Pakistan to lead activities in the country, Dr. Farooq Tahir. “Pakistan is a country of about 220 million people and has an agro livestock-based economy, where 40 percent of the population is directly or indirectly engaged with livestock farming.  Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is an emerging public health challenge, not only globally but also locally, with [...]

On July 13, 2022, Nailya Karsybekova, Regional Coordinator for Europe, arranged a meeting with Codex contact persons of the post-Soviet countries - Central Asia, the Caucasus, Ukraine, and Russia. Those in attendance carried out an analysis of the work for the entire period of Kazakhstan’s coordination since August 2017 and discussed achievements, lessons learned, an arsenal of new tasks, and proposed solutions. Participating countries also discussed the current work of Codex at the national level, and the importance of countries taking an [...]

As part of the new AMR Codex Texts (ACT) project, laboratory experts from FAO led a mission in June 2022 to assess the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance system in Mongolia. In addition, the mission also engaged stakeholders from the food and agriculture sectors to raise their awareness of foodborne AMR. “The aim of this mission was to assess the ability of the national laboratories to detect AMR in the food and agriculture sectors. The assessment considered activities related to data collection [...]

By Shalini Neeliah Codex Contact Point, Mauritius In 2020, when we signed the project document for the Codex Trust Fund Assistance, we knew we were in for a deep dive.  As a developing country, we had a relatively new Codex structure, but we were very keen to improve it so that we fulfill all our obligations as a World Trade Organization member.  Participation in Codex meetings was still sporadic, depending largely on the funding of the Codex Trust Fund (CTF).  As a [...]