Iran seeking to reclaim position at Global Codex Alimentarius

 

During the 54th meeting of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) underway in China, the representative of Iran’s Ministry of Agriculture called for the return of the country’s previous positions it held at Global Codex Alimentarius.

According to the website of the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture, the Director General of the Department of Environment, Sustainable Development and Technology Affairs of the Ministry, representing Iran at the 54th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives, made a speech at the session and urged the return of Iran's previous positions.

"Iran held the chairmanship of the Codex during a six-year period (2011 to 2016), coinciding with the 43rd to 48th sessions of the Global Codex Alimentarius, and for three consecutive years (2017 to 2018 and 2021) coinciding with the 49th, 50th and 52nd sessions of the Global Codex Alimentarius, the chairmanship of the working group under the committee was held, and these positions have been suspended since then,” Abolfazl Raoufi stressed.

He added, "Considering Iran's geographical position in the relevant specialized topics and Iran's active role and presence during the mentioned period, we ask the chairman of the meeting to return Iran's previous position and role in this global meeting."

According to this report, consultations have been held with some members of the global session, including the Belgian chairman of the subcommittee, on Iran's return to its previous position, and it was agreed that this issue would be reviewed by the secretariat of the session and the result would be announced.

During the session, various topics such as proposals for the development and revision of joint standards of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization in the field of food additive regulations, the draft revision of the classification and international numbering system of additives, the draft specifications of identity and purity of additives and other topics referred from the Codex Alimentarius Commission and other institutions will be discussed and exchanged views.

It is worth noting that the Codex Alimentarius is a collection of global standards for food safety and quality, global codes of practice and other safety guidelines to protect consumer health and correct international trade. The purpose of developing the Codex is to create standards that, in addition to protecting consumer health, guarantee legal measures in the sale of food and provide trade facilities for covered countries. The implementation of the Codex in different countries requires the cooperation of specialists in various scientific fields related to food, consumer syndicates, production and processing industries, food quality control departments and traders.

The Codex Committee on Food Additives is one of the most important and active technical committees under the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which meets annually with the participation of representatives of member countries.

The 54th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) is underway in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China at W Chengdu. It will go on until April 26, 2024.