Foodlaw-Reading
Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
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Codex News Item, 30 May 2016
The Codex Chairperson Awilo Ochieng Pernet attended the 84th General Session of the OIE in Paris on 25th May 2016 where she gave a speech and also participated in a Panel discussion which brought together representatives of the FAO, WHO, the World Bank and the WTO.
Excellent Collaboration
On this occasion, the Codex Chairperson expressed her gratitude and appreciation to the OIE for the long history of excellent collaboration between Codex and the OIE. She also thanked the OIE for their outstanding contribution towards the development of Codex standards. She further indicated that in line with the Codex mandate articulated in Article One of the Statutes of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), the current Codex Strategic Plan 2014-2019 clearly states the strategic objective of the CAC to strengthen coordination and cooperation with other international standard-setting organisations, seeking to avoid duplication of efforts and to optimize opportunities. Consequently, the CAC aims to promote collaboration in standards development in Codex with the OIE on standards that cover the farm to fork continuum and which affect both Codex and the OIE.
Promoting better understanding
Highlighting the need to enhance dialogue and collaboration among food safety and animal health experts at regional and national levels including among the Codex Contact Points and the OIE Focal Points, the Codex Chairperson invited the OIE to be represented at the six Codex FAO/WHO Regional Coordinating Committee sessions by the OIE Regional Commissions. She noted that this would lead to a better understanding of expert roles and in turn contribute to strengthening national food safety management systems leading to better protection of the health of the world’s consumers.
Combatting AMR
Noting the presentation of the OIE Strategy on combatting antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the Codex Chairperson stated that the AMR issue needed to be dealt with in a holistic manner across the animal, food and human sectors. She further indicated that the issue of AMR would be discussed at the forthcoming 71st session of the CCEXEC and the 39th session of the CAC which will take place in Rome in June 2016. In this regard, she indicated that the collaboration between Codex and the OIE had been recognised as being important in order to ensure coherence with OIE texts.
