The 22nd session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean is taking place online from 24 to 28 October, 2022, hosted in Quito, Ecuador. Bernardo Manzano, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Ecuador welcomed more than 120 delegates joining from the 33 countries in the region. The Minister underscored the mission of the Codex Alimentarius to guarantee safe, quality food for all people everywhere, preserving their health and contributing to equity in international food trade. He also highlighted Ecuador's defense of the scientific basis for decision-making, achieving the adoption of five global standards related to maximum levels of cadmium in chocolate and the global categorization of chocolates.

Latin American and the Caribbean is an important food producing geographic region due to its great natural wealth, offering resources for the provision of food, both internally and for export. “Consequently, promoting and strengthening food safety based on solid proposals from each of our countries is essential to guarantee the health of our populations, reduce malnutrition gaps and ensure equitable access to safe food,” said María Gabriela Aguinaga, Vice Minister for Health. “Codex Alimentarius, is an important tool for our region and for meeting the goals we have set ourselves in line with the Sustainable Development Goals,” she added.

The keynote speaker,  Dr. Marcos X. Sanchez-Plata from the International Center for Food Industry Excellence at Texas Tech University, spoke of the key role Codex will play when it comes to new technologies in the agrifood chain. In describing the shift to data becoming available in the cloud he envisaged how risk assessment could be carried out in the field via real time actionable information. He saw opportunities for Codex to draw on the potential these technologies can bring to improve the way it operates as a risk manager.

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Follow CCLAC22 via the meeting web page.

Photo credit ©CCLAC Secretariat

Main photo left to right: Patricio Almeida, Executive Director of Agrocalidad; Bernardo Manzano, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock; Rommel Betancourt, Chairperson CCLAC; María Gabriela Aguinaga, Vice Minister of Health; Oscar Barreneche, WHO Representative in Ecuador.

Article updated 26/10/2022 with additional comments from Minister Manzano