2. The Task Force was welcomed to Copenhagen by Ms Ritt Bjerregaard, Danish Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries. In her opening remarks to the Session, the Minister stressed the importance of the work assigned by the 23rd Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission to the Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Codex Task Force on Animal Feeding over the next four years in establishing high level standards for feedingstuffs to secure the safety and quality of foods of animal origin.
3. The Minister outlined the need for transparency and traceability of manufactured animal feedingstuffs and pointed to the essential tools of appropriate labelling and record keeping. In addition, Ms Bjerregaard proposed that the Task Force take the opportunity to consider a universal warning system to be used in cases of emergencies in the feed chain as had occurred in Europe in the BSE and dioxins crises of the 1990's. A way to secure food safety was to secure the safety of feedingstuffs. The Minister stressed that securing transparency and traceability would make it easier to trace back feedingstuffs that posed a risk to human or animal health or to the environment. Strict rules on the use of feed materials and additives would bring all stakeholders a step closer to the food safety that all parties wanted. The Minister recalled her full support for the work of the Task Force and extended her best wishes for success in achieving the objectives assigned to it by the Commission.
