The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and Codex Alimentarius Commission Secretariat gathered online for a conversation that centred on public-private partnerships, a form of collaboration that is essential to securing food safety globally. Erica Sheward, GFSI Director, set the stage for the 11 March 2021 webinar called “How the Public and Private Sectors are Teaming Up for Safe Food for a Healthy Tomorrow” by explaining [...]

On International Women’s Day 2021, #IWD2021, the Codex Secretariat has launched a video message on the theme of the day #ChooseToChallenge, celebrating the contribution women in the Codex family make to ensure food is safe and can be traded fairly through the food safety standards of the Codex Alimentarius. 📽️ | On #IWD2021 we celebrate women’s achievement in Codex to ensure #FoodSafety and a level playing field for trade through international standards. #InternationalWomensDay @UN_Women pic.twitter.com/98FhT4Ggpd — Codex Alimentarius (@FAOWHOCodex) March 8, 2021   To [...]

Kenya, in an effort to streamline and increase efficiency for participation in Codex work recently reconstituted its National Codex Committee. On Tuesday 2 March 2021, the Codex Contact Point, housed in the Kenya Bureau of Standards held an induction programme for the newly reconstituted committee. “This move was to ensure maximum representation from all key food safety players,” said Maryann Kindiki who is the new Codex Contact Point for Kenya. Among the issues discussed were how the Codex Alimentarius Commission [...]

With remarkable speed the Polish Agricultural and Food Quality Inspectorate has already launched its awareness raising campaign as the world gears up for the 2021 World Food Safety Day on 7 June. Writing on their official website and on social media following the launch of the campaign on 18 February 2021, Poland encourages all its citizens to follow the events surrounding the UN Day and engage with others to celebrate “safe food now for a healthy tomorrow”, the theme of this [...]

Countries all over the world were watching the French Secretariat closely as the first Codex subsidiary body to meet virtually, the Codex Committee on General Principles (CCGP), launched the 2021 series of Codex technical meetings. The Executive Committee had already shown that meetings could be managed this way for smaller groups and the first ever virtual Commission in 2020 had demonstrated that high-level gatherings were also possible with bigger numbers – over 900 delegates registered. The next challenge however for [...]

A newscast broadcast on 18 February on the Codex Twitter channel and on the FAO LinkedIn and YouTube channels, launched the World Food Safety Day 2021 campaign under the theme “Safe food now for a healthy tomorrow”. This day which is gaining global momentum as it approaches its third anniversary calls on governments, all those who work with food, and consumers to take action. Ensure it’s safe - Governments must ensure safe and nutritious food for all Grow it safe - Agriculture and [...]

On 18 February 2021 at 15:00 CET the World Food Safety Day campaign for 2021 will be launched with the announcement of the theme for this year’s celebration. A newscast including contributions from FAO, WHO, the secretariats of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the International Food Safety Authorities Network, plus guests from around the world will discuss why food safety is everyone’s business and set the scene for the third occurrence of this International Day on 7 June 2021. The newscast [...]

On Friday 12 February 2021, at 16:00 (CET), 10am local time, Agrocalidad, the Phyto and Zoosanitary Regulation and Control Agency in Ecuador will host a live Facebook broadcast to present a series of figurative cartoon characters that aim to carry key food safety messages to a wide audience. “Foodborne diseases represent a serious risk in both developed and developing countries and proper food handling can go a long way to preventing most of these,” said Rommel Betancourt, Coordinator of Food Safety [...]

Welcoming delegates to the 32nd session of the Codex Committee on General Principles (CCGP) that is taking place virtually from 8 to 17 February 2021,  Julien Denormandie, Minister of Agriculture and Food, of the host country France said that in a world facing a major pandemic, the different stakeholders in the food sector everywhere face the challenge of producing healthy and good quality food in sufficient quantity, while at the same time coping with the risk of health, economic hazards [...]

More than a year has passed since the last time a Codex technical committee met. When the Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance ended on 13 December 2019 in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, nobody could imagine that there would be a 14 month wait for experts to gather once again to continue their formal deliberations of Codex business. The task of kicking off the 2021 series of meetings, with plans currently for a virtual year and online sessions, has fallen to France [...]