Webinar series on food safety standards starts in Latin America and the Caribbean
As part of an FAO project to defeat foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the first of a series of webinars in the Latin American and Caribbean region was held on 14-15 September 2022. The nearly 500 participants learned about the use of Codex Alimentarius texts, the impact they can have when it comes to keeping food safe from antimicrobial resistant organisms and residues. The webinar was called: “Guide and orientation for new Codex Alimentarius participants“. The second webinar “Basic Codex texts“ will be held on 7 December 2022 at 10:00 - 12:00 (GMT-5) in Spanish and English and the series will run until 2025.
The AMR Codex Texts (ACT) project “Implementation of Codex standards to support containment and reduction of foodborne antimicrobial resistance” includes initiatives, such as these webinars, to raise the awareness of policy makers, farmers and food business operators of the need for collaboration across the value chain to stop foodborne AMR.
“I would like to emphasize the high complexity of food systems and their important challenges. We need to harmonize standards as critical support to protect the health of consumers and meet the demands that our food systems face,” said Rommel Betancourt, General Coordinator for Food Safety at the Phyto and Zoosanitary Regulation and Control Agency of Ecuador (AGROCALIDAD) and Regional Coordinator of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean. With this series of regional webinars, we can focus on meeting needs, strengthening knowledge, expressing doubts and learning from different experiences, he added.
Marisa Caipo, Food Safety and Quality Officer at the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighted some of the topics of future webinars: operation of the Codex Commission and its Committees; Codex fundamental texts; future challenges; AMR; and food contaminants.
Leonardo Veiga, Codex Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, focused on the history of Codex, its objectives, structure and operations, the process for the approval of standards, members of the Codex, and the importance of Codex principles in his talk on the first day.
The second day, the webinar was moderated by Amanda Lasso, Codex Advisor. She focused on the Codex Alimentarius and its agreements with other international organizations, procedures for Codex consultations, how to prepare and agree on a country’s position, good practices for successful international participation, and what to do if you have a proposal for a Codex standard. She stressed the importance of working together in the region.
The webinars were co-organized by the Phyto and Zoosanitary Regulation and Control Agency of Ecuador, as the base of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean, and the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean.
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