A Codex Alimentarius Colloquium was held for Codex Delegates from Africa and Codex Delegates from the United States of America, from 14th to 16th February 2018 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting was convened jointly by the African Union’s InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources, the U.S. Codex Office, Foreign Agricultural Services of the United States Department of Agriculture, and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF).
The meeting was opened by Dr. Andrew K. Tuimur, Chief Administrative Secretary and Principal Secretary for Livestock at the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. There were also statements from Prof. Ahmed Elsawalhy (Director, AU-IBAR), Ms. Mary Frances Lowe (U.S. Codex Manager), Dr. Francis Nang'ayo (Senior Manager for Regulatory Affairs at AATF), and Dr. Maritim Kimutai (Chairperson for CCAFRICA).
The overall objective of the meeting was to exchange views and share experiences between African Codex Delegates who are members of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa (CCAFRICA) and U.S. Codex Delegates on draft Codex standards to be discussed by the upcoming meetings of the following Codex committees:
- 12th Session of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF), 12th to 16th March 2018, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
- 50th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA), 26th to 30th March 2018, Xiamen, Peoples Republic of China.
- 24th Session of the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF), 23rd to 27th April 2018, Chicago, United States of America.
The meeting was attended by Food Safety Experts including Codex Contact Point Officers from 22 African Union Member States belonging to CCAFRICA as well as Food Safety Experts from the US.
The following were the outcomes of the 3-day meeting:
- Views were exchanged and experiences shared on draft Codex standards related to food additives, contaminants in food and residues of veterinary drugs in food.
- Harmonized positions on Codex and other food safety issues of mutual interest to the two Regions were identified.
The technical session was facilitated by Mr. John Oppong-Otoo, Food Safety Officer at AU-IBAR. This Codex Alimentarius Colloquium was organized by the Standards and Trade Secretariat for Animal Health and Food Safety at AU-IBAR, with funding from the United States Department of Agriculture. The Programme is part of the cooperative agreement between AU-IBAR and USDA to support African countries to enhance their participation in the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission.