Khalid Al Zahrani, Saudi Arabia, Jing Tian, China, and Betul Vazgecer, Türkiye, have been elected to serve as the new Vice-Chairpersons of the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

On the ballot paper there were six candidates for the three positions as Vice-Chairperson. After just one round of voting Al Zahrani and Jing Tian were elected with 100 and 99 votes respectively. The remaining four candidates went through three successive rounds of voting, over two days, which resulted in the election of Vazgecer.

“I am thankful to Codex Members for their support” said Khalid Al Zahrani “I will work hard to fulfill my duties of Vice-Chairperson, and I am already looking forward to working with the new team and the Codex Secretariat, with the goal of achieving the statutory purposes of Codex”.

“This recognition is both an affirmation and encouragement for me,” commented Jing Tian. “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Member Countries for their trust. I will take this opportunity to continue promoting the development of global food safety initiatives, enhancing communication and mutual understanding regarding Codex standards, and advancing the work on Codex standards based on scientific advice”.

“I would like to express my gratitude to all Codex Members and promise that values of impartiality, compromise, the protection of human health as well as listening to science will be the pillars of my work” said Betul Vazgecer “The more countries are involved in Codex, the more effective the use of Codex standards will be. Together we can further improve Codex work”, concluded Vazgecer calling on the outgoing Chairpersons to share their experience with the newly elected team.

Together with Chairperson-elect Allan Azegele the new officers of the Commission will take up their posts and begin work as this meeting ends.

Read more

CAC47 webpage

Allan Azegele, Kenya, elected as 21st Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission

Past Officers of the Commission and Members of the Executive Committee (1963-2024)