A webinar held on 14 July 2020 entitled ‘Joint Action on COVID-19: Boosting our Global Response’, presented the seven main intervention areas that FAO has developed in response to the COVID-19 crisis with a clear message that business as usual is not a possibility. If we carry on as usual we will see major loss of life. FAO Director-General QU Dongyu told participants that with 4.5 billion people dependent on food systems for their jobs and livelihoods it was time for FAO [...]

In an historic moment for the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the Executive Committee (CCEXEC) began its 79th meeting online due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Spread over seven days (13-20 July 2020) and four online sessions, the committee will examine standards for adoption and proposals for new work from those committees that were able to meet before travel became impossible in March this year and all subsequent Codex meetings were cancelled. The recommendations of the CCEXEC will go forward for consideration [...]

The Ministry of Public Health of Qatar organized a series of initiatives in celebration of World Food Safety Day that made news headlines in June 2020. During a webinar a draft Arab food safety policy was presented. The Arab Food Safety Team of the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States had tasked Qatar with preparing the initial draft, which is ‘to provide the technical basis for joint coordination and standardization of procedures among the competent authorities in the [...]

In observance of World Food Safety Day, the Sociedad de Inteligencia Competitiva and Le Cordon Bleu University, both based in Peru, carried out awareness-raising activities in June 2020 to promote food safety, and enhance human development as well as the competitiveness of the country. The activities culminated on 24 June (Farmers’ Day) with a virtual forum called "Food Safety, Everyone’s Business", like the 2020 global campaign theme, for which more than 750 people registered including private sector representatives, researchers, government [...]

The National Drugs and Food Authority (BPOM) in Indonesia held a webinar on 10 June entitled "World Food Safety Day: Safe Food in Markets" to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of this UN Day. Those participating included key partners in food safety practice in Indonesia and the keynote address was given by FAO Representative in Indonesia, Stephen Rudgard. Read the full report on the FAO Indonesia website.

The FAO/WHO Codex Trust Fund Secretariat has announced eight successful applications from five Codex regions. The countries or groups of countries involved will receive funding to run activities geared towards building strong and sustainable national Codex systems with the ultimate aim of increasing their participation in the work of Codex. Africa:  Mauritius Asia:  group application from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar Europe:  Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan Latin American and the Caribbean:  Guyana, and group application from El Salvador and Guatemala Southwest Pacific region:  Samoa, Tonga A spokesperson for the [...]

by Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH) Secretariat Towards the end of 2019, a new strain of coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2, which showed unprecedented virulence and severity, was reported from Wuhan, China. Within about three months, the number of confirmed cases of infection, called COVID-19, had soared and the virus had spread to many countries across the world with exponentially rising infection and death rates. The outbreak was then declared a global health emergency, and on 11th March 2020, WHO [...]

In Ghana, the Food and Drug Authority (FDA) led a celebration of World Food Safety Day with food safety public education in the week running up to 7 June 2020. Food safety information was shared on various local radio and TV stations across the country and on the FDA social media platform. The celebration culminated on 8 June with a webinar on the topic 'The Food Safety Situation in Our Food Business Environment during this COVID-19 period'. A recording of the webinar [...]

Abdessalam Ould Ahmed, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa, and Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, issued a joint statement on 7 June 2020 on the occasion of World Food Safety Day. The statement highlighted the crucial role of safe food in promoting health and ending hunger. "Without universal access to safe food, the 2030 Agenda will be impossible to achieve. Everyone has the right to safe, nutritious and sufficient [...]

Food safety touches every aspect of our food system and defines how secure, sustainable, resilient, and nourishing a food supply can be when stressed. To mark the second annual World Food Safety Day, FAO North America convened a webinar exploring how to maintain safe supply chains during a pandemic and minimize future disruptions to build more resilient food systems and ensure food security on 12 June. Hank Cardello, Senior Fellow & Director, Food Policy Center, Hudson Institute moderated the expert discussion, [...]