Speaking at the opening session of The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) Conference taking place from 29 to 31 March 2022 in Barcelona, Spain, the Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, Steve Wearne (United Kingdom) called on industry to join with Codex in advocating for the adoption and deployment of Codex standards.

“Together, we have an opportunity to further develop and foster food safety practices throughout the entire food system – from shaping policies to incentivizing private enterprises in traditional and formal markets.  We should anchor food safety on global best practices, but recognize it is generally not governments, regulatory authorities or inspection and supervision bodies that produce the food we all consume. It is industry – from the smallest micro-businesses to the largest global companies,” he said.

Codex would have little authority in the field of international standard setting if it did not welcome and acknowledge the valuable contributions made by observers. Wearne stressed the importance of collaboration and the value of businesses sharing their data. “Not just the regulatory packages for regulated products such as plant and animal protection products or food additives … but also your intelligence and insights into how food safety control systems are working, pressure points and emerging priorities,” he said.

He also emphasized the natural partnership between Codex and GFSI in “bringing people together with a focus on food safety in order to protect everyone everywhere” and in building a future system where Codex standards are incorporated more widely into national regulations or used as a reference point by individual businesses and as a basis for business-to-business interactions.

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The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI; the Coalition) is a Coalition of Action from The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), a Codex observer, that brings together retailers and manufacturers from across the CGF membership.

Main photo: Steve Wearne at GFSI 29 March 2022

Photo credit © GFSI