In Washington, D.C., Secretary Cahill discusses Codex as a driver of positive change in a changing global environment

In her first visit to Washington, D.C. since her appointment as Secretary of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, Dr. Sarah Cahill and Dr. Marcus Lipp, Senior Food Safety Officer, participated in an event entitled “Codex Alimentarius: A U.S. - EU Commitment to Safe Food”. This event, organized jointly by the United States, the European Union, France, and Germany, highlighted existing successes of Codex and opportunities for future collaboration among Codex members. Recent scientific developments in food safety, sustainable food systems, and climate change adaptation were a key focus of discussions among members. 

Dr. Cahill delivered remarks during a panel entitled “Joint Collaboration with Better International Standards”. Throughout the event, Dr. Cahill emphasized the criticality of Codex’s convening power, pointing to its ability to proactively address emerging challenges.  Dr. Cahill lauded the event as a showcase for the potential of Codex in driving positive change for consumer protection, food trade, and addressing emerging issues linked to agrifood systems transformation and food safety globally. Dr. Lipp also spoke about the challenges and prospects for scientific advice, emphasizing how the effects of climate change and technological advances are requiring the global agrifood supply to examine current norms on food safety. 

In addition to her participation at this event, during her visit Dr. Cahill held high-level meetings with representatives from the U.S. State Department, U.S. Trade Representative, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). During her meeting with Paul Harrison, Director of the Office of Agricultural Policy for the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, Dr. Cahill described her strategy for Codex, while Director Harrison praised this standard setting body as fundamental to the future of international trade and sustainable agrifood systems.  Later that day, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative (AUSTER) Julie Callahan discussed upcoming challenges for the Codex Alimentarius, such as dealing with new technologies, including cell-based foods.  AUSTER Callahan reinforced U.S. support for the mandate and scope of Codex Alimentarius. 

During the week, Drs. Cahill and Marcus Lipp met numerous times with the U.S. Codex Office, which is housed in USDA’s Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs mission area.  During meetings with USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety, Emilio Estaban, the Under Secretary and other senior officials discussed the future role of Codex including strategies for communicating how food safety is a critical, but sometimes overlooked, component of sustainable agrifood systems and food security strategies and the need to ensure Codex continues to develop science based standards that protect consumer health and facilitate fair trade  in the context of a changing global environment.  

Prior to returning to Rome, Dr. Cahill led an informal roundtable discussion with a diverse group of stakeholders, including private sector representatives from commodity, pesticide, and chemical industries. The productive discussion touched upon the need to balance efforts to bolster food safety while mitigating food waste, ensuring the Codex Secretariat is equipped to address real or perceived food safety issues that arise from new technologies, and ensuring that developing countries can participate robustly in the Codex standard setting process. Participants stressed the importance of Codex as a reliable resource and authority within international trade negotiations as well as domestic commerce. Dr. Cahill assured participants that the Codex team is working to make standards more accessible, transparent, and innovative.  

Codex Alimentarius is a collection of internationally adopted food standards, codes of practice, guidelines and recommendations. These texts are aimed at both protecting consumers’ health and ensuring fair practices in food trade through providing guidance on a range of issues from safe food production, food labeling to quantitative limits for contaminants and residues in food. The Codex Alimentarius Commission was jointly established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1963, and the Codex Secretariat is housed within FAO, wherein the codes of practice, guidelines, and other recommendations are published. Over the past 60 years, the United States has been an instrumental partner for Codex Alimentarius, conducting outreach and analysis through the U.S. Codex Program, an interagency governmental partnership.