El Comité Coordinador para África fue creado por la Comisión del Codex Alimentarius en 1972, con el mandato de ejercer “la coordinación general en la preparación de normas relativas a la región de África”. El comité celebró su primera reunión en la FAO en 1974, con la asistencia de 19 países.
Al iniciarse el mandato del nuevo coordinador regional, el Acuerdo sobre la Zona de Libre Comercio Continental Africana (AfCFTA, por sus siglas en inglés), que entró en vigor en mayo de 2020, ha reforzado la necesidad de contar con un sistema eficiente y eficaz para gestionar las medidas sanitarias y fitosanitarias, en particular la inocuidad alimentaria, en todo el continente a medida que sus fronteras se abren al comercio.
El coordinador regional tiene su sede en la Oficina Nacional de Normalización de Uganda, un organismo estatutario dependiente del Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Cooperativas que supervisa, en el marco de su mandato, la promoción y el uso de las normas.
Como coordinador regional, Uganda tiene la intención de colaborar estrechamente con los diferentes países a través de encuestas, seminarios web y talleres para identificar las necesidades y los nuevos problemas, y generar conciencia sobre los temas prioritarios en materia de inocuidad de los alimentos y sobre las normas del Codex. También se analizará la situación de la inocuidad de los alimentos en la región en términos más amplios a través de un estudio piloto. Al fortalecer la colaboración con organismos regionales como la Unión Africana, la Organización Africana de Normalización y la Secretaría de la Zona de Libre Comercio Continental Africana, Uganda pretende asimismo mejorar la labor de incidencia en la región.
Burundi, a Member of Codex since 1963, needs to have an operational National Codex Alimentarius Committee and has begun to sensitize decision-makers on the importance of Codex standards. The committee will help to enforce food standards and Burundi’s participation in fair competition in international trade. This emerged from the joint FAO/Burundi Bureau of Standardization two-day workshop on Codex, which took place in Bujumbura from 24 to 25 August 2022 and was followed by a National Technical working group of Codex [...]
The FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa opened virtually from Kampala, Uganda on Monday 5 September 2022. In opening remarks, Hon. Ms. Harriet Ntabazi, State Minister for Trade, Uganda, called for harmonization of food safety standards across the continent. “If we merge as Africa and talk one language, if we concretize our standards together then the level of competitiveness as a continent will grow … in other markets.”
Hon. Mrs. Margaret Muhanga Mugisha, State Minister for Primary Health Care, welcomed nearly 200 [...]
On 5 August 2022 the President of Liberia George Weah signed into law a series of bills. The official Facebook page of the Liberia Presidency and government websites describe the measures as a spur to national inclusiveness and to fight corruption. Amongst the bills signed is “an Act to Establish the Liberia Standards Authority.”
Stephen Mambu, Codex Contact Point for Liberia said, “Liberia now has a national standardization body known as the Liberia Standards Authority (LiSA). As part of this legislation, [...]
The National Codex Committee of Nigeria, in collaboration with FAO Nigeria, under the sponsorship of the Codex Trust Fund, held a two-day regional workshop from 26to 27July 2022 in Lagos, Nigeria to create awareness on the importance of using Codex Standards for farmers, processors, small and medium enterprises, and to train local journalists on the reporting of Codex activities.
With more than 65 participants in attendance, the general objective of the workshop was to spread information and awareness on Codex Alimentarius [...]
by the Codex Contact Point of Liberia
The fourth meeting of the National Codex Committee (NCC) of Liberia was held on the 25 July 2022 at the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL). The NCC meeting, which is held quarterly, brings together key national actors from both the private and public sector to discuss and take action on Codex work and food safety.
The meeting opened with several statements from stakeholders. In his opening remarks Walter Sayor, President of the National [...]
By John Oppong-Otoo, Food Safety Officer at AU-IBAR and Hakim Mufumbiro, Regional Coordinator CCAFRICA
Nineteen Member States of the African Union (AU) (Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Guinea Equatorial, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo) met between 4 and 6 July 2022 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, as part of an initiative to enhance Codex work management within the Member States on the continent.
The regional workshop [...]
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), organized a Regional Meeting on Food Safety Regulation Convergence from 18 to 22 July 2022 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The meeting was attended by Codex Contact Point Officers, National Plant Health Protection Officers, Chief Veterinary Officers, Private Sector Representatives and other experts from fifteen ECOWAS Member States (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote [...]
By Maryann Kindiki Codex Contact Point, Kenya (pictured left)
The Codex Contact Point in Kenya in collaboration with the FAO Country Office held a national food safety workshop in Nairobi, Kenya on 20 July 2022 with the objective of building a solid collaboration between public and private sector towards achieving food safety at national level. The workshop was graced by the presence of FAO Country Representative for Kenya, Carla Mucavi (pictured second left).
The engagements at the workshop were through panel discussions [...]
By Shalini Neeliah Codex Contact Point, Mauritius
In 2020, when we signed the project document for the Codex Trust Fund Assistance, we knew we were in for a deep dive. As a developing country, we had a relatively new Codex structure, but we were very keen to improve it so that we fulfill all our obligations as a World Trade Organization member. Participation in Codex meetings was still sporadic, depending largely on the funding of the Codex Trust Fund (CTF).
As a [...]
In Tanzania, The Citizen newspaper published a series of articles about food safety and World Food Safety Day to raise awareness about food safety issues and about some of the initiatives being implemented across the country aimed at addressing those issues. Representatives of FAO and WHO, as well as other experts and NGOs contributed articles
Dr Nyabenyi Tipo, FAO Country Representative in Tanzania, , describes the global impact of foodborne illness and the aims of World Food Safety Day. “Fortunately, preventive [...]
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