The eighth session of the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH) was inaugurated 13 October in the city of Guwahati in Assam, India, by Assam’s State Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya. In his welcome remarks, Governor Acharya underlined the importance of the spices industry to India generally and to Assam particularly, where, he said, there is a tradition of organic farming which is harmonized with nature and carried out with an understanding of the diversity of climate and soil. “Building [...]

The Codex Secretariat has launched the 2025 Members' survey on the “Use and impact of Codex texts” and, concurrently, released the report of the 2024 survey findings. This marks the fourth cycle of the survey, which helps Codex gain a deeper understanding of how its Members apply standards, guidelines, and codes of practice. This information is crucial for ensuring the protection of consumer health and facilitating fair practices in the global food trade. This year’s edition introduces two updates: regional standards [...]

Foresight is an essential tool for early identification of emerging food safety issues – including challenges and opportunities – driven by societal, economic, political, legal, environmental, scientific, and technological factors. A new report, Food safety foresight: approaches to identify future food safety issues, released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), presents a collection of food safety foresight approaches shared by experts from governments, international organizations, research institutes, universities, and the private sector. The findings of the [...]

The Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) wrapped up its 56th session in Santiago, Chile. The Committee Chairperson, Dr. Weili Shan, extended his gratitude to the delegates as well as to Chile for co-hosting the meeting. He further praised the dedication of the EWGs Chairs to "facilitate discussions and to prepare working documents promptly," which made a "significant contribution to the Session." “I would like to thank China and the delegates for the trust and support they have given me in [...]

The 56th session of the Codex Committee on Pesticides Residues (CCPR) has opened in the city of Santiago, Chile, where it is being hosted by China and co-hosted by Chile. Delegates were welcomed by CCPR Chairperson, Weili Shan, who expressed his great pleasure at being able to co-host CCPR – a first for China. “Our two countries are separated by oceans and mountains; however, we will come together because we are committed to global food safety,” he said. The session was [...]

The 56th session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) will take place in Santiago, Chile, 8–13 September. As Members prepare for the meeting, we spoke with Dr Weili Shan, Chairperson of the Committee, about pertinent issues and his own preparations for this key meeting. Dr Shan, thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions! This is the third time you have chaired a CCPR meeting. And this is the first time since China started chairing [...]

World Food Safety Day was celebrated this year under the theme of “Food safety: science in action”. This theme acknowledged the role of the FAO/WHO Food Safety Scientific Advice Programme in informing the knowledge and guidance that underpins the food safety and quality standards set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, and the advice imparted to countries by the two facilitating organizations, FAO and WHO. The theme went further, however, by underlining that for food to be safe, the standards that are [...]

In February this year, the Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (CCFFV) completed their wlork on a standard for fresh dates and has forwarded the text to the Codex Alimentarius Commission for final adoption. This is a breakthrough for CCFFV, as this text has seen over ten years of discussion, and is “a significant and satisfying achievement,” according to the fresh dates electronic working group Chair, Perumal Karthikeyan of India. It is also a breakthrough for Codex Members who [...]

The 88th session of the Codex Executive Committee, held in Rome 14–18 July, has concluded with the adoption of the report, following three days of wide-ranging discussions. The Committee agreed to recommend the next session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission the adoption of a number of texts, including the standard for fresh dates, a landmark text that many countries are eagerly anticipating. With the critical review ensuring that proposals for new work and draft standards submitted to the Commission for adoption continue [...]

The 88th session of the Codex Executive Committee (CCEXEC) has started in Rome, Italy. FAO’s Deputy Director-General, Godfrey Magwenzi, welcomed delegates to the meeting, noting the vital work carried out by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and its subsidiary bodies. He remarked on the importance the FAO membership places on Codex work, as underlined at the recent 44th FAO Conference, which concluded just over a week ago. “The Conference reaffirmed that standards setting, based on science and evidence, is at the [...]