Mary Frances Lowe, manager for Codex Alimentarius at the USDA said countries need to participate to achieve future collaboration, ensure integrated decision-making and raise the profile of science.
The USDA and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in Brazil sponsored the event, with support from the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Food hygiene, nutrition and food for special dietary uses and antimicrobial resistance were some topics on the agenda. Participants also discussed Codex’s Strategic Plan, differences between countries and Codex in risk management, and the role of science and the best way to disseminate it to reach a wider audience.
Delegates from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and the U.S. attended.
The following meetings are scheduled to advance Codex objectives:
1.The Codex Committee on Food Hygiene from Nov. 12 to 16 in Panama
2.The committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses from Nov. 26 to 30 in Germany
3.A task force on antimicrobial resistance from Dec. 10 to 14 in South Korea.
Codex Alimentarius is a United Nations standards-setting body working under the U.N Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). It establishes food standards to protect public health and ensure fair trade of safe food worldwide.
