The Chilean Codex Alimentarius Secretariat, ACHIPIA, organized a seminar on 5 June 2019 entitled “Codex Alimentarius: Strengthening food safety in trade”. The aim was to attract and increase the participation of different sectors of the food industry in the national sub-committees. Speakers from the food industry association explained to participants how Codex standards and their application in production processes, help them in complying with national and international regulations on food safety and facilitating food trade, using concrete examples in which [...]

As Europe goes to bed and the Americas think about finishing work for the day, in Samoa it is already the first #WorldFoodSafetyDay. As part of this celebration, FAO is highlighting its work in Samoa with partners in promoting food safety. This week, FAO and the Samoa Ministry of Commerce Industry and Labour are launching a Technical Cooperation Programme project. The objective of the project is to address the technical capacity challenges facing the Samoa National Codex Committee and relevant stakeholders. The [...]

The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has recently launched a new project, the OIE Observatory, to strengthen the implementation of OIE International Standards by Member Countries. The OIE Observatory is an ambitious project still at the concept level and with a multi-phased approach. OIE is currently collaborating with The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to develop the design of the Observatory. The project has a Reference Group, in which the Codex Secretariat participates. At the OIE 87th [...]

As the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) begins in Budapest, we spoke to Attila Nagy who takes over as Chairperson at this session. A veterinarian and microbiologist, in November 2018 Attila was appointed Director of the newly established Food Chain Safety Laboratory Directorate in Hungary. Attila, thanks for your time. You were born just two years after Hungary started hosting CCMAS. What, in your view, are the three major changes in analytical methods that have taken place [...]

La Guinée a lancé son projet de Fonds Fiduciaires du Codex 2 lors d'un atelier tenu les 14 et 15 mai 2019 et qui a été marqué par la présence du Secrétaire Général du Ministère de l'industrie et des PME, du conseiller du Ministre en charge de la Qualité et de L'innovation, du DG de l'Institut Guinéen de Normalisation et de Métrologie, du Président du Comité National du Codex et de la participation des départements ministériels compétents (santé, agriculture, élevage, [...]

A delegation led by the Codex Alimentarius Regional Coordinator for Europe, Nailya Karsybekova, visited the Republic of Armenia from 29 to 30 April and the Republic of Moldova on May 2 and 3, to enhance participation of these countries in Codex. During the mission, meetings were held at the Ministries of Agriculture, Ministries of Health, the Inspection Bodies for Food Safety, and at the FAO and WHO Country Offices. "The visits to Armenia and Moldova provided an opportunity to meet top-level [...]

People involved in the various activities along the food supply chain came together in Kwanghwamoon Square in Seoul, Korea on 10 May to celebrate the 18th of Korean Food Safety Day. This initiative kicks off the numerous celebrations that promise to mark the newly established World Food Safety Day. Lee Eui Kyung, Minister of Food and Drug Safety of the Republic of Korea said, “The World Food Safety Day is a great achievement of international collaboration”, which will highlight that “food [...]

Interview with Kathy Twardek, the new chairperson of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling, ahead of the 45th session which gets underway in Ottawa, Canada on 13 May 2019. Kathy, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. To start, tell us where you work? I have been working for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) since it was established in 1997, and for a few years before that in various departments whose focus was on consumer affairs and food inspection. Why [...]

  A dedicated section on the Codex website, now highlights activities of Observer organizations. In addition to front-page news articles and features, information on how to apply for observer status  and details of all current Observers is available. Currently, there are 229 Codex Observers – of which 57 are intergovernmental organizations, 156 nongovernmental organizations and 16 UN agencies. Food safety is a shared responsibility “Food safety is a shared responsibility, so it is important that governments can interact directly with producers, industry, consumers, [...]

At the WTO International Forum on Food Safety and Trade held in Geneva, Switzerland, 23-24 April 2019, delegates learnt how food safety regulatory systems need to constantly adapt to challenges and how Codex needs to address emerging and new challenges in a timely and efficient manner, while keeping existing standards up to date. Speaking in the thematic session “Promoting harmonized food safety regulation in a period of change and innovation”, Reri Indriani, Deputy Chairperson in the National Agency for Drug and [...]