The 45th session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) has concluded in Budapest, Hungary. Following adoption of the meeting report, Chairperson Attila Nagy thanked all those involved in the smooth running of the week-long meeting and, in line with a CCMAS tradition, he provided the recipe for this year’s soup: Shoyu Ramen. CCMAS45 addressed a typical agenda this week, as well as hearing about and discussing plans for a new online database of the methods included [...]

The World Bank’s Knowledge Exchange Series of webinars focused in on the Codex Alimentarius in its session on Thursday 12 March, with discussion on how Codex standards and related texts are adopted and used within national contexts in South Asia. As moderator, Farbod Youssefi-Vash of the World Bank, explained, the aim in the discussion was to debate how to move away from thinking of Codex texts “as one-size-fits-all rulemaking, to incentivising compliance”. The four guests addressed a range of topics, which [...]

The 45th session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) has opened in Budapest Hungary for a week of deliberations on topics relating to a range of commodities and issues. Opening the meeting, the President of Hungary’s national food chain safety office (Nebih), Dr Imre Nemes DVM, underlined the importance and significance for Hungary of hosting this highly technical committee, describing the role as “a responsibility for scientific soundness, transparency and international cooperation.” He continued: “the work [...]

The World Food Safety Day 2026 campaign has launched with details of this year’s theme:  “From burden to solutions – safe food everywhere”. Led by the World Health Organization (WHO), this year’s campaign is dedicated to highlighting the burden of foodborne diseases and the science-based solutions that can prevent them. Central to the 2026 theme is the upcoming release of updated WHO estimates of the foodborne disease burden, which will be published in June in a key findings report accompanied by [...]

Attila Nagy has been Chairperson the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) for almost a decade, and has previously served as Vice-chairperson of the committee. He is a passionate advocate for this work and is at the forefront of innovations such as databasing this vital work. We caught up with him to find out about his preparations for the 45th session of the committee, which will take place 9–13 March 2026 in Budapest, Hungary. Attila thanks for your [...]

With the support of the European Union-funded Market Access Upgrade Programme Phase II (MARKUP II), which is implemented through the International Trade Centre (ITC), the East African Community (EAC) partner states under the technical committee (TC) on food additives has met in Juba, South Sudan, to develop regional standards for gum arabic. Uganda, as the host of the TC secretariat, guides the process of food additives standards development. The meeting was hosted 23-27 February 2026 by South Sudan to commence the [...]

Standards are "the hidden infrastructure of modern economies" according to the World Bank’s World Development Report 2025, which focuses on standards for development. In a corroboration of the Codex maxim that standards are the invisible thread that links up the food supply chain, the report considers Codex standards alongside many other types of standards. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was host, Monday 2 March, to an event led, in collaboration with the Codex Secretariat, by the World Bank team involved [...]

Abu Dhabi, 26 February 2026 The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was been elected as the geographic representative for the Near East region to the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission for the 2026–2028 term. The election took place during the 48th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in Rome, where Her Excellency Mouza Suhail Al Muhairi, Deputy Director-General for Regulatory and Administrative Affairs at the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) and Chair of the UAE National Codex [...]

Siem Reap, Cambodia – 25 February 2025 The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through the Action to support implementation of Codex AMR texts (ACT) project funded by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of the Republic of Korea, successfully completed a three‑day training on Costing and Budgeting for the Multi‑Sectoral Action Plan (MSAP) on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) 2025–2029, in Siem Reap, Cambodia. More than 40 government officials from Cambodia’s Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry [...]

On 2 March 2026, the World Bank Group Institute for Economic Development and the Codex Secretariat will host a high-level session to discuss the role of standards in global development. With the participation of FAO and IPPC, the event will center on findings from the World Development Report (WDR) 2025, Standards for Development, exploring how technical frameworks serve as the "hidden infrastructure" that determines the success of agrifood systems. The discussion will focus on the following areas: Standards underpin trust and market access [...]