Country level advocacy meeting on Codex & INFOSAN
Kathmandu- Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC), Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD), has organized a country level advocacy meeting on Codex & INFOSAN (International Network of Food Safety Authorities) Networking at Hotel YaK & Yeti in Kathmandu on 22 September 2016 with technical & financial support from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO).
Underlining the need for all code and practices as per the national code, Udaya Chandra Thakur, Secretary at the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD) said that MoAD has taken initiative to strengthen National CODEX Committee in order to harmonize national food standards with the CODEX standards.
Dr Jos Vandelaer, WHO Representative to Nepal said that threats involving biological, chemical and radio-nuclear hazards exist in the US $ 200 billion worth global food industries. Highlighting the need of exchange of information on food safety in the country and the across the border, he called for action through a collective effort for mass awareness on food safety.
Shashi Sareen, Senior Food Safety & Nutrition Officer of FAO Regional Office for Asia & the Pacific, said that FAO has extended support to the Government of Nepal to set up Good Agriculture Practice mechanism aiming at understanding and implementing the basic standards of CODEX.
40 participants representing governmental agencies, Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office and civil society attended the meeting chaired by Sanjeev Kumar Karn, the Director-General of the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC). Experts from WHO and FAO facilitated the meeting.