Today WHO launches the updated Global Strategy for Food Safety 2022-2030, adopted by the 75th World Health Assembly, in a step towards a safer and healthier world and towards strengthening multisectoral collaboration and innovative public health approaches. This new Strategy addresses current and emerging challenges, incorporates new technologies and includes innovative approaches for strengthening food safety systems. It also reflects feedback received through a comprehensive consultation process with Member States and and other intergovernmental organizations and institutions and the members of [...]

A webinar for the Latin American and the Caribbean region “Guide and orientation for new Codex Alimentarius participants“ took place on 14-15 September 2022 and was attended by almost 500 participants.  It was part of the AMR Codex Texts (ACT) project to raise awareness of the use of Codex texts. The next webinar is scheduled for December. Rommel Betancourt, General Coordinator for Food Safety at The Phyto and Zoosanitary Regulation and Control Agency of Ecuador and Regional Coordinator of the FAO/WHO [...]

By Sylvia Kirabo, Head of Public Relations and Marketing at UNBS and Hakim Mufumbiro, Regional Coordinator CCAFRICA Uganda, which doubles as the current CCAFRICA Coordinator, has concluded a four-day Twinning and Mentorship programme on Codex Activities between Uganda and Tanzania that was held at the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) Headquarters in Kampala from 19 to 22 September 2022. The objective of the twinning arrangement is to strengthen Member States capacity and efficiency in engaging and management of Codex activities especially [...]

The international conference "Artificial Intelligence (AI) for detecting food fraud" was held on 13 September 2022 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. The conference was organized by the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Europe (CCEURO) of the Codex Alimentarius, the European Center for Peace and Development of the United Nations University for Peace (ECPD), the International Food Standards Certification Organization (IFSCO), with the support of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The conference, attended by 1680 participants from Europe and Asia adopted a [...]

The 24th session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa ended virtually in Kampala, Uganda on 13 September 2022, having reached agreement on a series of proposals that will now be forwarded to the upcoming Codex Alimentarius Commission in November this year. The Committee completed its work on guidelines for developing harmonized food safety legislation for the CCAFRICA region and a proposed regional standard for dried meat products traded in the region. New work proposals on kethiakh, a type of dried [...]

¿Le gustaría saber más sobre cómo fortalecer el sistema de inocuidad de los alimentos en su país? El acelerado incremento de la población a nivel mundial, el aumento de la demanda de alimentos, el consecuente crecimiento de la industria de los alimentos, sumado a los riesgos sanitarios mundiales, demuestran la importancia de incorporar la inocuidad de los alimentos dentro de las políticas nacionales y el fortalecimiento de su Sistema de inocuidad.   La Agencia de Regulación y Control Fito y Zoosanitaria de Ecuador [...]

Burundi, a Member of Codex since 1963, needs to have an operational National Codex Alimentarius Committee and has begun to sensitize decision-makers on the importance of Codex standards. The committee will help to enforce food standards and Burundi’s participation in fair competition in international trade. This emerged from the joint FAO/Burundi Bureau of Standardization two-day workshop on Codex, which took place in Bujumbura from 24 to 25 August 2022 and was followed by a National Technical working group of Codex [...]

The FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa opened virtually from Kampala, Uganda on Monday 5 September 2022. In opening remarks, Hon. Ms. Harriet Ntabazi, State Minister for Trade, Uganda, called for harmonization of food safety standards across the continent. “If we merge as Africa and talk one language, if we concretize our standards together then the level of competitiveness as a continent will grow … in other markets.” Hon. Mrs. Margaret Muhanga Mugisha, State Minister for Primary Health Care, welcomed nearly 200 [...]

On 5 August 2022 the President of Liberia George Weah signed into law a series of bills. The official Facebook page of the Liberia Presidency and government websites describe the measures as a spur to national inclusiveness and to fight corruption. Amongst the bills signed is “an Act to Establish the Liberia Standards Authority.”  Stephen Mambu, Codex Contact Point for Liberia said, “Liberia now has a national standardization body known as the Liberia Standards Authority (LiSA). As part of this legislation, [...]

On 19 and 21 July, El Salvador and Guatemala celebrated the launch of the group Codex Trust Fund project “Food safety and the Codex Alimentarius: impact on productivity and public health in El Salvador and Guatemala.” The launch took place in the presence of the Minister for the Economy (MINEC) and President of the National Quality Council, María Luisa Hayem Brevé, the Director of the Salvadoran Agency for Technical Regulation (OSARTEC), Zaida Guzmán, Codex Secretary Tom Heilandt, and Vice President [...]