Speech by FAOLOR Director Oleg Kobiakov in the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation
Speech by Oleg Kobiakov, Director of the Liaison Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with the Russian Federation in the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation
at the public hearings
"From field to plate." Public quality control of food raw materials and food products.
Moscow, 2 November 2021 (online)
Dear participants,
FAO is grateful to the Civic Chamber for this initiative and the invitation to speak on this burning issue.
Food security and food safety are two sides of the same phenomenon.
The general situation on the planet is that in 2020, 811 million people were experiencing hunger, and in 2019 – the number was 690 million. The pandemic has thrown us far back in solving the problem of hunger, which, according to the 2030 Agenda, we have pledged to eliminate by the end of the decade.
In addition to hunger, another 1 billion people suffer from other forms of malnutrition – micronutrients and vitamins deficiency as well as overweight and obesity.
And another 1 billion cannot afford a full-fledged food basket, a healthy diet.
Thus, today 3 billion people, or over one third of the world's population, are deprived with a healthy, nutritious diet.
Nevertheless, there are significant reserves for correcting this situation. First of all, it is the food loss and waste reduction. There is enough food produced in the world to feed everyone. Reducing food loss and waste will be equivalent to a 30 percent increase in production.
The problem of food security: there are no simple solutions on this track – otherwise humanity would have coped with it long ago. The 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, convened by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, mobilized the member states, all interested stakeholders for a radical restructuring of the food systems, bringing them in line with the requirements of the times.
Food safety is inextricably linked to food security. The task is not only to feed people, give them food calories, energy balance, but also to provide a healthy, high-quality, and safe food.
I do not want to anticipate the presentations of experts on specific topics, such as: physical, chemical, and microbiological safety of food, counterfeit products, control systems, regulatory regims, and enforcement.
FAO, as the main intergovernmental organization focused on food security, is working on all these tracks. We support the member states, we provide a platform for the exchange of opinions and practices, and finally, we develop mandatory standards for food safety.
The most well-known activity here is the Codex Alimentarius Commission – an FAO and WHO joint body, which has been developing standards for food products for more than 60 years. I must say that the Russian national standards adopted on this basis are in many ways tougher than the international ones. The problem, of course, is with compliance.
The subject of our discussion has traditionally been the focus of public attention – consumer unions, parents’ committees, NGOs, other civil society organizations, and the media.
The essential property of modern food systems is their multipolarity. None can and has the right and capacity to dictate terms and rules to others. In the end, the predestination of their very existence is to ensure life of humanity, and each of us acts as the final consumer in this context.
There are many ways how civil society can ensure that the state fulfils its control, supervisory and regulatory functions. These are educational activities, public oversight, legislative initiative, dialogue with business, and finally, the creation of broad coalitions for healthy and safe nutrition.
We highly appreciate this activity of our Russian partners and, on the part of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, we confirm our readiness to provide expert support to this work in accordance with the mandate of our Organization.
Thank you for your attention!
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