by Tom Heilandt

Codex Secretary

Like so many, I have now spent more than a year teleworking away from my office in Rome. Conversely, my meeting attendance has probably never been so high which has some benefits.  I have been able to advocate for and witness first hand so much more of our work but I have also been suffering from days overbooked by virtual meetings and the absence of “real” meetings.

In addition, the insecurity of when we will be able to return to physical meetings makes planning difficult. With each of the 17 virtual meetings that we will have this year we learn and improve, and we also realize that these will always require more time and preparation than physical meetings. Virtual meetings are a success in the sense that we have never been as inclusive as this year, however, we have also learned that with the present size of the Codex team such a workload is not sustainable.

This year the day was an exceptional example of creativity.

Already in 2020 World Food Safety Day was a remarkable online event. Building on that and putting all lessons learned in 2020 to practice, this year the day was an exceptional example of creativity. World Food Safety Day is only three but it is already maturing in the virtual world and maybe partly because of it. I saw how much the Codex community cares about food safety, seizing on this celebration to highlight the vital work that takes place locally either through government initiatives, collaborations with the Codex parent organizations or through the many observer and stakeholder groups around the world. This year the number of events was massive! Searching for World Food Safety Day 2021 yields 88 800 results compared to 30 500 last year. That is amazing!

I am extremely grateful to all Codex Members and Observers who planned events this year, no matter the scale or scope. I am particularly proud of the coordination role performed by Codex Contact Points and their offices. With so many daily challenges in their home ministries and agencies and the reality of the pandemic they have been a fine example of selfless commitment to our work. Whenever we can underline the value of international food safety standards to protect populations and facilitate trade we are winning. Codex standards create win-win situations!

I had to spend the actual World Food Safety Day 2021 on other duties, but that meant I could quietly watch the Rome Headquarters event later without being nervous about it.

Here, I extend my gratitude to my own team in the Codex Secretariat who together with FAO and WHO colleagues held an original and engaging event, the Codex equivalent of the Discovery Channel, allowing us to learn from the Chief Scientists of both organizations — seen together for the first time — not only about their own passion for science but how they see this discipline we all share as an essential component of our food safety work. Science is the rock on which we build Codex standards.

As we move cautiously forward if some of the enthusiasm, innovation and creativity can spill over from World Food Safety Day to the way we run our day-to-day Codex business then we will be on the right path.

Learn more

Visit the 2021 World Food Safety Day web pages

Main photo: Tom Heilandt taking part in a Food Tank online event for World Food Safety Day

Text edited 16/7/2021 to add information on Codex virtual meetings