As Europe goes to bed and the Americas think about finishing work for the day, in Samoa it is already the first #WorldFoodSafetyDay. As part of this celebration, FAO is highlighting its work in Samoa with partners in promoting food safety. This week, FAO and the Samoa Ministry of Commerce Industry and Labour are launching a Technical Cooperation Programme project. The objective of the project is to address the technical capacity challenges facing the Samoa National Codex Committee and relevant stakeholders. The [...]

People involved in the various activities along the food supply chain came together in Kwanghwamoon Square in Seoul, Korea on 10 May to celebrate the 18th of Korean Food Safety Day. This initiative kicks off the numerous celebrations that promise to mark the newly established World Food Safety Day. Lee Eui Kyung, Minister of Food and Drug Safety of the Republic of Korea said, “The World Food Safety Day is a great achievement of international collaboration”, which will highlight that “food [...]

As about 1,000 participants from over 50 countries gathered for the 18th edition of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) Conference, World Food Safety Day (7 June) received strong endorsements. The delegates - food safety experts and decision makers from both the private and public sector - were invited to celebrate the recently proclaimed UN day as part of their collaborative efforts to drive improvement in food safety management systems globally.   📽️ | "Let me tell you a story..."Listen to the [...]

Today the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a World Food Safety Day. Starting in 2019, every 7 June will be a time to celebrate the myriad benefits of safe food. “World Food Safety Day will be a chance for everyone to take a moment to think about something we often take for granted: food safety”, said Codex Secretary Tom Heilandt. “Thanks to the widespread efforts of Codex Members and Observers, the international community will speak with one voice [...]

The Codex Secretary Mr Tom Heilandt, Mr Fan Yongxiang, Chairperson of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) and the Former Codex Chairperson Mrs Awilo Ochieng Pernet attended the 3rd Shenzhen Food Safety Risk Communication Forum, which took place in Shenzhen (China) on 5th and 6th November 2018. This year the Forum was dedicated to food safety early warning and food quality improvement. It brought together renowned national and international experts as well as 400 participants including government officials, industry [...]

The Second Committee of the United Nations General Assembly has adopted the resolution submitted by Costa Rica to declare June 7 World Food Safety Day (WFSD). For the Day to officially proclaimed the resolution must be passed by the United nations General Assembly, a which is expected to take place 20 December 2018. The former Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission Awilo Ochieng Pernet, Switzerland, put forward the original proposal for the declaration of a WFSD at the FERG Symposium in [...]

Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), expressed support for creating a World Food Safety Day on the margins of this year’s International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit in Daejeon, Korea, where he gave the keynote address on 15 October. “The development of a World Food Safety Day in the UN is good idea,” he said, recalling that the process to establish UN observances is driven by Member States. In a meeting with Tom Heilandt, Codex Secretary, and Professor [...]

The Codex community (and beyond) is invited to take part in a video campaign being launched today to express support for creating a UN day dedicated to food safety. The campaign, led by the Codex Secretariat, will largely take place on Twitter  and is open to anyone interested in seeing the resolution approved at the 73rd UN General Assembly in New York, USA so that worldwide people can recognize the importance of safe food every year on 7 June. “I encourage [...]

As government, business and civil society leaders review the world’s progress on sustainable development at the United Nations in New York, a 12 July 2018 event, convened by the Permanent Mission of Costa Rica, zeroed in on food safety and the vital role of Codex standards. Codex Alimentarius Commission Officers, Members and Observers called for strengthening food safety efforts during “Safe Food for Sustainable and Resilient Societies”, a side event of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. “This is a [...]

Today at an event organised by Codex at FAO HQ in Rome, Ms Geannina Dinarte Romero, Minister for Economy, Industry and Commerce of Costa Rica, called on countries to support the initiative for a World Food Safety Day that would signal the right for all people to have access to safe and nutritious food in sufficient quantity.  There can be no food security, no zero hunger without food safety The Director-General of FAO Mr José Graziano da Silva, opening the meeting, stated [...]