The 4th Global Conference on Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistance (GCFA) will take place September 24–25 2024, in Seoul, the Republic of Korea. Hosted by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) since 2021, the conference aims to raise awareness about foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and to call for concrete action. The FAO-implemented and Republic of Korea-funded Action to support implementation of Codex AMR Texts (ACT) project, will be presented at this year's conference, which is a demonstration of Korea's efforts to [...]

The FAO-implemented and Republic of Korea-funded Action to support implementation of Codex AMR texts - or ACT - project is being implemented in six countries. One of the project countries is Nepal, where the significant poultry sector, which contributes four percent to the country’s gross domestic product, is thought to be one of the main drivers of foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR), as a result of the overuse and misuse of antibiotics. Expenditure on antimicrobials is rapidly increasing in the sector, [...]

In a bid to help countries address the global threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), FAO developed an Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance 2021–2025. The Plan outlines five key areas of focus – of which one aims at supporting countries to strengthen surveillance and research for evidence-based decisions on AMR in the food and agriculture sectors. This work is now aided by the newly launched International FAO Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring (InFARM) system, which helps countries improve capacities to collect, collate, analyse, [...]

A new success story has been published highlighting some achievements of the Action to support implementation of Codex AMR texts (ACT) project in the Plurinational State of Bolivia. The ACT project is working to help six countries improve surveillance, governance, awareness and best practices to minimize and contain foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This success story focuses on the establishment by the Government of Bolivia of a multisectoral AMR containment committee, CC-RAM, and efforts by various stakeholders to improve surveillance and monitoring [...]

The key actors in the FAO-implemented and Republic of Korea-funded Action to support implementation of Codex AMR Texts (ACT) project met for state-of-the-project discussions in the Plurinational State of Bolivia on 24–28 June. The meeting, which started in La Paz, aimed to evaluate the progress of the ACT project, which is being implemented in six countries, and deliberate on the strategic direction for the upcoming years, including a thorough review of work plans. On the first day of meetings, representatives of [...]

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 [...]

The FAO-implemented and Republic of Korea-funded Action to support implementation of Codex AMR Texts (ACT) project has conducted a pilot exercise in Nepal to assess the country’s legislation as it pertains to Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and Antimicrobial Use (AMU) in the country. The exercise involved an assessment tool, known as the ACT Tool, that helps to identify the strengths in a country’s legislation relevant to AMR and AMU, as well as aspects of legislation that could be improved. This tool [...]

The FAO-implemented and Republic of Korea-funded Action to support implementation of Codex AMR Texts (ACT) project aims at “increased recognition and use of Codex standards”. In the Latin America and Caribbean region, one of the activities designed to help achieve this objective is a webinar series which has been devised to increase awareness on Codex standards and associated opportunities and challenges, and topics of interest for the Latin American and the Caribbean region. The sixth webinar in the series  took place [...]

The first in a new series of “Success Stories” has been published to promote the work of the FAO-implemented and Republic of Korea-funded Action to support implementation of Codex AMR Texts (ACT) project. The story from Pakistan recounts the positive impacts of the awareness raising efforts about antimicrobial resistance (AMR) that have taken place at grassroots level, where livestock carers – who are mostly women – have learnt about the need for responsible and prudent use of antimicrobials in animals. Each story [...]

A first-of-its-kind pilot surveillance study in Mongolia is coming to an end. In October 2023, as part of the FAO-implemented and Republic of Korea-funded Action to support implementation of Codex AMR Texts (ACT) project, a team of researchers from the State Central Veterinary Laboratory (SCVL) in Mongolia collected samples from cattle to look for the presence of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) pathogens. The SCVL undertook this study in response to the recommendations of a Mongolia-hosted mission for the “FAO Assessment Tool [...]