Mr. Zhang Xingwang, Vice Minister at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China, (pictured above) opened the 54th session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR), taking place from 26 June to 1 July 2023 in Beijing, China.

This committee sets the largest number of numerical standards in Codex and over the past 15 sessions in China has discussed and adopted over 5 000 maximum residue limits (MRLs) for pesticides. CCPR has also revised and developed the classification of food and feed along with other Codex texts, “achieving fruitful results and playing an increasingly important role in the development of the international food safety system,” said the Vice Minister.

Opening plenary session at CCPR54

Zhang expressed the high appreciation by the Chinese government for the role Codex has played for 60 years “protecting the health and safety of consumers worldwide, maintaining fairness in international trade in agricultural products and food, and continuously promoting the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals”.

The Vice Minister also recognized the contribution the outgoing CCPR Chairperson Dr Qiao Xiongwu, who, “with profound academic expertise and rich working experience … made a remarkable contribution to enhancing exchanges and cooperation in pesticide residue standards between countries and promoted the development of pesticide residue standards in China”.

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