With the 86th Session of the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CCEXEC86) starting next week at FAO HQ, Rome, the Codex Secretariat sat down with the Chairperson, Steve Wearne (United Kingdom), to talk about the Committee, its current and future work and the status of the new Codex Strategic Plan. Steve, thanks for your time. Let’s start from the basics. Can you explain to our general audience, what is the role of CCEXEC? CCEXEC is a work management committee. It supports [...]

Throughout the month of June, risk ranking workshops have been taking place in Mongolia, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Viet Nam, under the One Health and Food Safety (1HFS) project, which is supported by the Republic of Korea. The workshops are the first part of a series of planned events in the four countries under the 1HFS project, which are designed to help address the complexities of our agrifood systems from a One Health approach. This requires the involvement [...]

An intercountry workshop on “Enhancing Participation for Codex Activities” is taking place from 24–28 June 2024 in Mumbai, India, for government officials from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste. The event is hosted by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) under the Codex Trust Fund project, with the aim of strengthening national codex capacity that will protect human health and facilitate fair practices in the international food [...]

ISDI – the International Special Dietary Foods Industries, a Codex Observer, is running a webinar on 10 July 2024, 12.00-13.00 CEST, entitled Understanding and implementing the new Codex standard for follow-up formula. Following opening remarks by Steve Wearne, Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the webinar will provide an overview of the new Standard, what it means for ‘formula for older infants’ (6-12 months) and ‘product for young children’ (12-36 months), and considerations for the implementation of the new Standard, including [...]

Sarah Cahill has been appointed as the new Secretary of the Codex Alimentarius Commission Before joining the Codex Secretariat in 2018, where she served as a Senior Food Standards Officer for six years, Sarah Cahill led the FAO Secretariat of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA), responsible for overseeing the provision of scientific advice on microbiological hazards in a wide range of foods, from fresh produce to meat and fish. Her wide experience also comprises working on [...]

By Lusubilo Witson Mwamakamba (WHO AFRO), Sansan Kambire (FAO RAF) and Hakim Mufumbiro (CCAFRICA) The world in general, and Africa in particular, has shown enthusiasm and exceptional mobilization to commemorate World Food Safety Day around the theme “Preparing for the unexpected". This year once again the Regional Office for Africa of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAORAF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Programme (WFP), the African Union-InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) and the [...]

FAO has launched its ambitious and wide-ranging global information system aimed at developing and strengthening operational national surveillance systems so they can efficiently contribute to generating reliable and timely antimicrobial resistance (AMR) evidence in animals and food at national, regional, and global levels. As part of the launch, FAO is calling on its Members to participate in the first InFARM annual open call for data in 2024. The InFARM system consists of an IT platform and related FAO activities and builds [...]

On the occasion of the World Food Safety Day, the Food Safety Agency in Sidi Bouzid governorate, Tunisia, has launched an extensive awareness campaign under the theme "Getting ready for the unexpected." More than 4 000 students across 30 schools celebrated World Food Safety Day to better prepare for the unexpected. The campaign is a significant initiative that not only commemorates World Food Safety Day, but also aims to instill essential knowledge about safe food handling among students. The active involvement of [...]

Timor-Leste has been implementing a Codex Trust Fund project under the guidance of WHO since 2022. An advocacy workshop on Codex was organized 12–14 June in Dili as a part of World Food Safety Day celebrations. There were 46 participants representing the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Coordinating Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Public Works, private sector representatives and United Nations agencies. The World Food [...]

In celebration of World Food Safety Day on 7 June, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has released a new podcast episode entitled Prepared for the Unexpected. The episode explores the importance of identifying the source of foodborne disease outbreaks to ensure consumers are protected, and how the teams in place respond to food safety incidents and stay prepared. The episode is hosted by Edward Bray, Communications Officer in EFSA’s Communication Unit, with the participation of Eleonora Sarno, Scientific Officer in [...]