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Italian food business setting standards to keep food flowing
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how large numbers of workers throughout the food industry supply chain are indeed operating on the frontline. They are vital to ensuring we all have enough to eat but potentially more at risk from the virus than those under lockdown unless hygiene and sanitation measures at their place of work are of the highest standard and clear instructions and guidelines for employees, regarding how to operate during the pandemic, are in place.
Italy was one of [...]
24 May 2020
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Codex and the pandemic - strategic challenges and opportunities
Raj Rajasekar, Senior Programme Manager, Ministry for Primary Industries - New Zealand.
The Executive Committee informal virtual meeting held on 12 May 2020 provided a timely opportunity to reflect on the impact of the current pandemic on the work of Codex and some of the strategic challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. COVID-19 has spread rapidly across the world since the beginning of the year has had a huge impact on the work of Codex and many other multilateral institutions. The [...]
15 May 2020
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Codex Euro Region responds to the challenge of cancelled meetings
If you review the history of Codex committees since 1963 there are occasional gaps in the meeting schedule and most of these in the early years of Codex as the programme gradually developed and expanded. Some committees do not meet every year and so the average number of sessions through the 1970s, 80s, 90s and up to the present day has grown from less than 10 in any calendar year up to 20 in 2019.
What then to make of the [...]
13 May 2020
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COVID-19 likely to cause cancellation of a physical meeting of 43rd Codex Commission
The Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, Guilherme da Costa, Brazil, has written to FAO suggesting the cancellation of the 43rd Codex Alimentarius Commission session planned for July 2020 in Rome and to explore the opportunity to hold an online Executive Committee session to ensure that standard setting work can continue.
In the communication, Da Costa expresses his concern that expert delegations will not be able to gather in Rome for the Commission not only due to global travel restrictions currently [...]
06 May 2020
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COVID-19 / Codex Africa region holds first informal meeting online
The coronavirus outbreak has interrupted the schedule of physical meetings in Codex and led to a rethink of how countries within the Codex community, with its continuous cycle of committees and working groups, can stay connected when international meetings seem off the agenda for the time being.
On Tuesday 21 April 48 participants from 18 countries in the Codex CCAFRICA region, together with representatives from the African Union – Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources, the Economic Community of West African States, [...]
22 April 2020
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COVID-19 / Codex discusses working online
Members of the Codex Executive Committee met up via online video conferencing technology for an informal meeting on 2 April 2020. Discussions revolved around the subsidiary body meetings that have either been cancelled or postponed and how to maintain the momentum of standards development work that is already underway.
The Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission Guilherme da Costa, Brazil, said: “This is a completely unexpected situation for us when we take a look at our field of work. Producers, transporters, [...]
17 April 2020
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Protecting the food supply chain from COVID-19
In times of self-isolation and quarantine we all rely more than ever on a safe and efficient food supply chain to ensure that food is readily available in every home. As food shopping in stores and markets becomes more difficult for consumers because of the measures to reduce contact and avoid the person-to-person spread of coronavirus, governments are doing all they can to keep food available on the shelves.
To ensure this, the food itself and the people working hard to [...]
08 April 2020
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COVID-19 / Maintaining the momentum of Codex work
COVID-19 and the related response from governments across the globe has led to the postponement or cancellation of numerous Codex subsidiary body meetings scheduled to be held in 2020.
However, food safety remains an important issue and the Codex Secretariat is working together with Host Secretariats, Chairs of Committees and Chairs/Vice-Chairs of Electronic Working Groups (EWGs) to ensure that the standards development work can continue even if the committees cannot meet this year.
Tom Heilandt, Codex Secretary confirmed that electronic working groups [...]
28 March 2020
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COVID-19 / Codex Secretary discusses options for meeting schedule
As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to interrupt the meeting and events schedules of all organizations worldwide, the Codex Secretariat in conjunction with the governments that host Codex meetings has announced that eight meetings have either been postponed or cancelled, calling into question whether the Codex Alimentarius Commission will go ahead in Rome, Italy in July 2020.
In an extended interview, Codex Secretary Tom Heilandt explains the contingency plans being put in place to mitigate the loss of meetings from the Codex [...]
26 March 2020
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COVID-19 / Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods postponed
The host secretariat of the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) has confirmed that the upcoming session, due to be held in San Diego, USA from 25-29 May 2020 has been postponed due to the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19.
In collaboration with the Codex Secretariat, discussions are underway to explore if the meeting could be rescheduled for early 2021 at the same location.
Further details on new dates and on the work of the committee will be published [...]
17 March 2020
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