Advancing food standards and Codex participation in Europe and Central Asia

Food safety authorities work each day to ensure that the way our food is produced, consumed, or traded causes no harm to our health. If a food product is not safe, it isn’t food. To provide safe food, the field of food safety management must regularly address new challenges and avail itself of new opportunities. International science-based food standards play a key role in reaching a global level playing field for food safety and ensuring fair practices in food trade. The event, “Advancing food standards and Codex participation in Europe and Central Asia,” will put Codex food standards under the spotlight, discuss the progress and challenges in Codex from a regional perspective and address the role of food safety within the concept of One Health. The event will bring together regional organizations, the United Nations partners, and countries to share experience and discuss common issues.

FAO and AFSA will co-host the event in collaboration with key partners from the WHO Regional Office for Europe, the Codex Trust Fund Secretariat, the Secretariat of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, and the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture of Germany currently acting as CCEURO Coordinator.

Objectives of the event

• Raising awareness on Codex Alimentarius standards, and the benefits of having harmonized, science-based food standards for protecting human health and fair trade domestically and internationally.
• Discussing on the use of Codex standards and participation in Codex by the countries of the region, sharing best practices and benefits of Codex Trust Fund support to improve National Codex Capacities.
• Sharing the latest updates on priority issues for the region on food safety and its interface with plant and animal health within the concept of One Health, and the role of Codex.