Steve Wearne, Director, Global Affairs with the Food Standards Agency in the United Kingdom, has been elected to serve as the 20th Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission following historical in-person voting in Geneva during a virtual session of the 44th Commission.

Past Officers of the Commission and Members of the Executive Committee (1963-2021)

With 131 votes cast, Steve Wearne received 91 preferences with Vice-Chairpersons Purwiyatno Hariyadi, Indonesia and Mariam Eid, Lebanon receiving  22 and 16 votes respectively.

“We have a lot of work to do to ensure that Codex continues to survive and thrive,” said Wearne reacting to his success. Acknowledging the achievements of the team he has been part of with his fellow Vice-Chairpersons and Guilherme Da Costa, the current Chairperson, Wearne outlined his goals for the future: listening to the membership, delivering on the Strategic Plan and “advocating for Codex with everyone, for our standards, for their use and for funding,” he said.

Learn more

Elections for new Vice-Chairpersons take place on Thursday 11 November.

Follow updates live via the CAC44 meeting page including links to webcasts in six languages.

Real-time updates on adoption of new standards

Photo credit: ©FAO / Bob Scott