FAO promotes food safety as a cornerstone of agri-food trade

With the participation of over two thousand professionals involved in food safety, the 2025 cycle of the Webinar Series concluded. Developed for four consecutive years by the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, the series was part of the project “Actions to Support the Implementation of Codex Texts for Antimicrobial Resistance (ACT),” with the aim of disseminating and promoting the application of Codex Alimentarius standards to strengthen food safety systems in participating countries.

Representatives from ministries and national technical offices of health, industry, agricultural production, and foreign affairs, along with experts from the Codex Commission, representatives from chambers of commerce and export, universities, laboratories, and cooperation agencies, participated as speakers, sharing the theoretical foundations, applications, experiences, and lessons learned.

The series included a review of content covering the entire food chain, from guidance and orientations for new participants, to fundamental Codex texts, food safety challenges and what it means to address them under the One Health approach, contaminants in fishery and aquaculture products, food fraud, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the link between Codex and agri-food trade, and experiences from various national and regional stakeholders.

“The Codex Alimentarius plays a fundamental role, as we know that it comprises standards, guidelines, and codes recognized in the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, and that, being based on science, it also promotes the harmonization of all these sanitary requirements,” explained Food Safety and Quality Officer Leopoldo del Barrio.

Special Focus on Trade

The rapid increase in the world's population, the rising demand for food, and the consequent growth of the agri-food industry, coupled with global health risks, disruptions in food production and processing, in the food supply chain and its corresponding logistics, and in food consumption patterns, among other factors, demonstrate the importance of prioritizing food safety within national policies and strengthening food safety systems. The webinar series provided a comprehensive overview of the Codex Alimentarius at all stages of the agri-food chain. It also addressed in detail the implications of food safety for promoting international trade, because if it is not safe, it is not food.

Leopoldo del Barrio indicated that the correct application of this set of rules, guidelines, and codes “allows this trade to be more predictable, transparent, equitable, and, of course,

based on trust, not only among trading partners but also among consumers. We know that the cornerstone of this agri-food trade is often food safety, which enables, strengthens, and drives this highly relevant trade for our region, not only for the economic growth of exporting nations but also for food security and nutrition by contributing to greater availability and variety of food.”