IICA and the USDA will organize four virtual meetings to enable the 33 member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to reach a consensus regarding proposed Codex Alimentarius food safety standards.
San Jose, 15 February 2018 (IICA). The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will bring together 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), as well as Canada, providing them with an opportunity to analyze proposals for food safety standards in order to identify joint positions.
Four virtual preparatory meetings will be held this spring. The first topic of discussion will be food additives, on February 20, followed by an analysis of contaminants in food on March 1. On March 20, participants will address the topic of veterinary drug residues; the fourth meeting, which will focus on pesticide residues, will be held two days later.
The points of consensus identified during these sessions will be further debated with the global community at upcoming Codex Committee meetings and subsequently at the meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the highest international body on food safety standards.
“Codex Alimentarius is a collection of internationally recognized standards related to food safety. These science-based standards are aimed at protecting consumers’ health and ensuring fair trade practices in the international market,” stated Eric Bolaños, IICA Specialist in Agricultural Health and Food Safety.
The specialist explained that the preparatory sessions would enable the delegations to conduct technical analyses of the proposed agendas for the Codex meetings, as well as share or strengthen their points of view based on the contributions and analyses of other countries.
IICA’s Delegations across the Americas will serve as connection points to the sessions, enabling participants in each country to communicate with their counterparts.
More information:
Eric Bolaños, IICA Specialist in Agricultural Health and Food Safety
