At the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission held at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva on 10-14 February 2020, Bukar Tijani (pictured left), FAO Assistant Director-General for the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department emphasized the need for Codex to remain alert to emerging issues that will impact its work. Describing the nature of diseases that can spread from animals to humans and then cross borders, Tijani said that outbreaks such as African swine fever or COVID-19 [...]

Madagascar depends heavily on food imports to meet its food requirements. Effective and efficient control of food imports is therefore essential to facilitate food trade on the island and to protect the health of consumers. “Several different authorities carry out inspections of those products according to their respective competences”, said Dominique Lantomalala, Codex Contact Point, Madagascar. “Most of the time, there is a lack of coordination and synergy between these actions. Faced with imports, local industries suffer and it is not [...]

As the 78th session of the Executive Board of the Codex Alimentarius Commission got underway at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Naoko Yamamoto (main photo), Assistant Director General, WHO, reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to work closely with FAO in order to enhance the role of the Executive Board to review and optimize the operations of the whole Codex Alimentarius Commission. Acknowledging WHO’s role in working closely with member states and FAO to strengthen food systems and improve [...]

The Executive Board of the World Health Organization has endorsed a draft food safety resolution and will now send it for consideration by the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May 2020. Two thirds of Executive Board members took the floor and strongly supported the resolution. Many member states are now sponsors of the draft resolution, which was negotiated with the European Union as chair. Dirk Lange, European Commission, said: “This WHA resolution will put food safety high on the international political [...]

The Codex Secretariat can confirm that the 52nd meeting of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA), originally scheduled to take place in Lanzhou, China from 2 to 6 March 2020 has been postponed due to the situation regarding the outbreak of Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). In collaboration with the China National Health Commission and the CCFA Host Secretariat, the Codex Secretariat is exploring whether the meeting could be held in China, at a location to be confirmed, from 22 to 26 [...]

The Codex Secretariat is monitoring the current situation in China regarding the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) via WHO daily updates and the advice from the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee. Codex is also consulting closely with the Chinese authorities via the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) and Pesticide Residues (CCPR) Host Secretariats. As reported on the WHO website on 29 January 2020, the Emergency Committee on the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) will be reconvened by the World Health Organization [...]

A team from the FAO Food Safety and Quality Unit together with representatives from the Codex Secretariat and the FAO Nutrition Department travelled to Parma, Italy today to meet with the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA). The meeting was an opportunity to find common ground and share insights on a range of issues including scientific opinions, risk communication and possibilities for cooperation on major campaigns such as World Food Safety Day and the International Year of Plant Health. Bernhard Url, Executive [...]

Strengthening the existing regulatory framework for agricultural trade is essential to ensuring the availability of safe and nutritious foods now and in the future. Multilateral trade rules provide a framework for predictability, transparency and cooperation. They can limit distortions, minimize unnecessary barriers to trade and facilitate trade itself. Complying with international standards is also important for ensuring food safety, quality and consumer awareness. Speaking at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), an international conference on agri-food policy issues held [...]

The 12th Berlin Agriculture Ministers' Conference, took place on Saturday 18 January 2020. The conference discussed how trade in food and agricultural commodities and trade in services for agriculture can contribute to achieving food security for the world's increasing population, enhancing nutrition and human health, improving farmers' livelihoods and income, and achieving more sustainable food systems to preserve the planet. The final communique from the conference called for trade policies to be part of a larger strategy (towards the improved [...]

From 16 to 18 January 2020, around 2 000 global experts from politics, industry, science and civil society are meeting at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) in Berlin, Germany to discuss global key issues and to jointly develop solutions. The forum is looking at trade for global food security from all angles and is an opportunity to discuss how to shape international trade in order for it to provide secure, diverse and sustainable food and nutrition for [...]