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 trade for these South Asian countries.

The idea for this subregional workshop was conceived by Bhutan, India and Nepal in an effort to sustain and institutionalize the good practices that were developed through implementation of their CTF group project, which concluded in August 2023.

Mr. Steve Wearne, Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, delivered a virtual keynote address, highlighting that " Multilateralism, such as is practiced in Codex, is more important than ever, as a means of countries addressing global issues together and as an antidote to exceptionalism

In his inaugural address, Mr. G. Kamala Vardhana Rao, CEO, FSSAI emphasised on the regional cooperation and collective participation in Codex activities.

Dr Alka Rao, Codex Contact Point, India and Advisor Science and Standards, FSSAI highlighted India’s continued support to CTF and its leading contribution in developing global food standards and capacity building.

The special address was presented by Dr Sridhar Dharmapuri, Senior Food Safety and Nutrition Officer FAO and also by Dr Gyanendra Gongal, Senior Public Health Officer for the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia.

The event is facilitated by former Codex Alimentarius Commission Chairperson, Sanjay Dave, and Dr. Gyanendra Gongal and Mr. Perumal Karthikeyan, Joint Director,FSSAI who are conducting hands-on training for effective and meaningful participation in Codex activities. For the first two days, the event sessions imparted information on practical tips for enhanced leadership in Codex activities and offered participants the opportunity to interact on the functional status of their National Codex Committees and also to share their country experiences on the Codex standard setting process.  

The remainder of the week has been given over to “mock drill” exercises where participants role play variety of Codex activities, such as participation in Codex meetings, and other aspects of the standard setting process.

India plans to make this workshop an annual event, which will be an in-kind contribution to the CTF project.

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Codex Trust Fund website

Photo credit © FSSAI