In 1964, at its second session, the Codex Alimentarius Commission established the Coordinating Committee for Europe to succeed the 'European Council of the Codex Alimentarius' and to replace the 'Advisory Group for Europe' set up at its first session in 1963.
The first meeting of the Coordinating Committee for Europe took place in July 1965 in Berne, Switzerland and was attended by 16 countries from the region.
The current coordinator, Germany, is based in the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL).
Germany’s main priorities as coordinator are to:
- reduce barriers to active participation of Members of the region in Codex work;
- increase the awareness of the role of Codex and food safety in general in the transition towards sustainable food systems; and
- promote the use of Codex standards in priority areas such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
In addressing these priorities, the coordinator will use synergies from international and regional level activities of the Codex Secretariat, FAO and WHO as well as Codex Observers.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) launched a food safety awareness campaign on Twitter in the occasion of the World Food Safety Day. Starting on May 31, the campaign highlighted quotes from a variety of stakeholders who answered the question “What does food safety mean to you?”
“Food safety is the building blocks for what makes our world-class and pioneering sector so great,” said Charlie McConalogue TD., Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. “From our committed farmers to our [...]
Staff at Hungary’s National Food Chain Safety Office (Nébih) have produced a humorous video to drum home a central message of World Food Safety Day: that failing to wash your hands when handling food can lead to discomfort and illness.
The video was created by the communication staff of the Nébih office, with one colleague becoming inspired by a popular ‘meme’ character in Hungary, by the name of Harold. ‘Harold’ is actually an electrical engineer by the name of András Arató, who, some 12 years [...]
During the 5 days of the eFORUM, 35 experts from governmental authorities, public institutions, academia and the private sector presented and exchanged experiences on food safety and quality aspects. Overall 2 300 people registered and, according to organizers, it was far the biggest event around food safety in Poland. “We were experiencing hundreds of answered questions from participants,” said Janusz Olejnik,CEO of Założyciel Projektu FoodFakty (Food Safety Culture Initiative PL).
Among others, the FAO/WHO Codex Contact Point for Poland representatives, which [...]
On 7 June, Samim Saner, President of the Turkish Food Safety Association moderated the first of a week-long series of “Food Safety Conversations” to mark World Food Safety Day. This webinar was entitled simply “The World Food Safety Day panel: safe food now for a healthy tomorrow.”
Guests from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and Turkey’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry talked about key food safety issues in their area of [...]
As a national Codex Contact Point for North Macedonia, the Food and Veterinary Agency joined the global campaign in the celebration of June 7 - World Food Safety Day. The aim of the initiative was to bring together different stakeholders involved in the food chain and through a public debate to raise awareness for food safety as well as inform the public about the importance of preventing and managing the risks associated with food, promoting health, economic prosperity, agricultural development [...]
In celebration of World Food Safety Day, the National Food Agency of Georgia has presented its annual report. The event was opened by Mr. Levan Davitashvili, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, who highlighted the achieved results and new challenges and thanked FAO and other international organizations for their continuous support in ensuring food safety in the country.
"I would not exaggerate to state that in terms of food safety, the ministry has been working continuously, consistently and [...]
In celebration of the 7 June World Food Safety Day, FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia and WHO Regional Office for Europe held a joint event this morning to discuss food safety in the context of sustainable food systems and actions needed to address food safety issues in the interface of humans, animals and environment. The event was attended by 216 participants and was available in English and Russian languages.
The opening addresses by Mr. Vladimir Rakhmanin, FAO Assistant [...]
Professor Parvez Haris of de Montfort University in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland gave a lecture for World Food Safety Day on the ways in which rice can become contaminated and ways to address what can sometimes be a serious problem.
He highlighted the fact that rice is a staple food for more than half the world’s population and it therefore has a key role in food production and consumption: it is the cereal with the highest [...]
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) office in the Kyrgyz Republic in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Development is organizing a World Food Safety Day workshop aimed at a range of stakeholders, including food producers and food businesses, trade networks, regional divisions of the Department of Disease Prevention and State Sanitary & Epidemiological Surveillance and medical practitioners.
The 30-person workshop will be a part of FAO’s project on “Assessment and improvement of institutional capacities on food [...]
The Government of Serbia, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Investment Centre and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are planning a World Food Safety Day event to raise awareness about the collective responsibility that is involved in keeping food safe. The virtual discussion is particularly aimed at small-scale producers and processors, government representatives, extension workers and local media and will use the occasion of World Food Safety Day to highlight relevant work that [...]