May 23rd 2017 Paris. World Organisation for Animal Health  Speech: Tom Heilandt  The actual speech as it was delivered may deviate from the speech texts made available on this website. Chers déléguées, délégués - Mesdames et Messieurs Bonjour !  Je voudrais premièrement remercier l'OIE et sa directrice générale – Dr Monique Éloit pour cette invitation et la possibilité de m'adresser à vous ici aujourd'hui. Le thème de la discussion qui suivra ces interventions individuelles est très pertinent. Toute normalisation est inutile si [...]

The regional meetings provide an incredibly important opportunity for dynamic discussion on major and emerging food safety and quality issues facing the region. There are six Codex regions each represented by a joint FAO/WHO Regional Coordinating Committee (RCC).They meet every two years. Each committee is responsible for defining the problems and needs of the region concerning food standards and food control. By working collectively at the regional level countries are able to highlight regulatory issues and problems arising from food control [...]

On Monday 8th May the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling holds its 38th session in Budapest Hungary. Dr Marót Hibbey will chair the meeting for the first time and ahead of the meeting he took part in a Question and Answer session. Dr Marót Hibbey Q1 This meeting will be your first as Chair, can you tell us a little about your professional and personal background? I graduated as a vet in the Szent István University of Veterinary Sciences in Budapest, and [...]

Safe food to consumers should not be compromised regardless of the economic standing of the country. Greg Read is First Assistant Secretary in the Exports Division of the Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources and also chair of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS).  Q: How does CCFICS work to ensure fair trading practices and facilitate international trade in foodstuffs, protecting at the same time the health of consumers? Read: CCFICs has developed a large [...]

Contaminants are substances that have not been intentionally added to food. They can occur naturally and enter the food while a crop is growing. They can form during manufacturing, handling, storage, processing or distribution. Or they can enter the food from the environment, through our water, the air or soil. The Contaminants Committee establishes or endorses permitted maximum levels or guidelines levels for contaminants and naturally occurring toxicants in food and feed. Nearly 50 countries are expected at this 11th session which [...]

This committee establishes or endorses permitted maximum levels for individual food additives. A food additive in Codex is defined as "any substance not normally consumed as a food by itself and not normally used as a typical ingredient of the food". Adding food and colour ingredients Additives can be added during the manufacture, processing, preparation, treatment, packing, packaging, transport or holding of a food for technological purposes.  This could be for example to colour, to sweeten or to help preserve the food. In the [...]

24 Jan 2017, Rome - a delegation of senior officials from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries met in Rome to enhance both sides of a strong relationship that sees Japan as FAO's number two donor to FAO's regular budget behind the United States. Japan has for a number of years provided extensive support to Codex through an ongoing programme of seconded officers to the Secretariat. The specialist background these officers bring, combined with [...]

This video report from CNBC Africa reviews the 22nd session of the FAO/WHO Regional Coordinating Committee for Africa which met in Nairobi, Kenya earlier this month. Reporter Charles Gitonga highlights the main challenges regarding food safety in the region and the ongoing work of the Codex Alimentarius to ensure, through establishing international food standards, that food is safe and that it can be traded fairly.  

The 20th session of the FAO/WHO Regional Coordinating Committee for the African region began yesterday in Nairobi, Kenya. The continent of Africa consists of 54 very diverse countries covering 11.7 million square miles. Trade in region now runs in excess of 50 billion USD a year. Delegates from the 49 countries that make up the CCAFRICA region are meeting to address the food safety and trade issues most relevant to Africa. Hon Adan Mohammed opens CCAFRICA22 Hon Adan Mohammed, Cabinet Secretary for the Kenyan [...]

On December 21st, Codex Secretary Tom Heilandt spoke to the Chinese National Codex Committee at the annual meeting in Beijing that brings together the numerous ministries involved in Codex work. Annual Codex Report Chaired by Dr Fan Yongxiang of The National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment and hosted by the National Health and Family Planning Commission, the session heard reports on current activities and future initiatives regarding food safety and international standards. More than 20 representatives from the China Food Industry Association [...]