JOINT FAO/WHO ACTIVITIES
18. In addition to the activities included in the meeting documents, the Codex Secretariat informed the Committee of the 56th Session of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) held in Geneva, Switzerland from 6 to 15 February 2001, in which series of mycotoxins had been evaluated. It was pointed out that this had been the first time that a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Risk Assessment of Microbiological Hazards in Foods had been held in which were analyzed two pathogen-commodity combinations identified as priorities by the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH). Attention was also drawn to the establishment of a new procedure for the selection of experts to take part in the meetings of the groups of experts.
19. The Observer of Consumers International informed the Committee that his Organization had suggested to the WHO Executive Board that it make every effort to ensure a wide range of scientific perspective when forming the groups of experts.
FAO ACTIVITIES
20. The FAO Representative referred to the global activities of FAO emphasizing, besides those mentioned in the document, the convening of the FAO/IAEA Workshop on the Accreditation of Mycotoxin Laboratories held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in May 2000 in which the countries of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and Chile had participated. The workshop had examined the establishment of quality management systems for control laboratories so that these could be accredited and to facilitate international trade.
21. With regard to the regional activities, the FAO Representative stressed that the 25th FAO Regional Conference (Nassau, Bahamas, 1997) had set four priorities for FAO's work in the Region, one of these being a dynamic integration into external trade and the strengthening of Codex activities. The number of meetings and projects in the countries of the Region had increased in follow up to this recommendation. The FAO Representative highlighted the fact that the Table of Food Composition for Latin America drawn up by LATINFOODS had been placed on the FAO Regional Office's website. In addition to these activities, food consumption surveys had been conducted in Barbados and Dominica with the support of FAO/CFNI/PAHO and another would be initiated in Guyana.
WHO/PAHO ACTIVITIES
22. The Representative of WHO/PAHO reported on the global and regional activities of WHO and its regional office PAHO, referring to the document presented at the Session and highlighting cooperation inputs in other fields, such as the conduct of training programmes for inspectors of countries where the food control in tourism was a priority.
23. The Representative of WHO/PAHO underlined the importance of the Resolutions adopted by the World Health Assembly and the Governing Council of PAHO, which defined the food safety technical cooperation priorities of both Organizations and urged countries to strengthen their national food safety programmes.
24. The Representative of WHO/PAHO emphasized the contribution to countries from the dissemination of information on food safety on the INPPAZ website, where a virtual library on food safety offered a wealth of information of use to the Region.
