FAO News Item, 16 May 2008
A new e-learning course for professionals dealing with food control and food standards setting was unveiled at FAO this week. Entitled “Enhancing participation in Codex activities”, the course will assist delegates to participate more effectively at meetings of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, provide guidance on preparing a country's input to Commission debates on food safety and quality and national standards setting.
The course has been developed by FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO), with support from the Government of Canada, and aims to provide in-depth knowledge of Codex Alimentarius procedures and of the international food standards setting process.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission is an intergovernmental body with over 170 members, operating within the framework of the Joint Food Standards Programme established by FAO and WHO, with the purpose of protecting the health of consumers and ensuring fair practices in the food trade. The Codex Alimentarius (Latin, meaning Food Law or Code) is a collection of internationally adopted food standards, guidelines, codes of practice and other recommendations.
The new course provides basic information on Codex as well as recent changes in procedures, helpful tips on forming national delegations to attend the meetings of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, on making effective interventions at Codex meetings, on the basic concepts of food safety risk analysis, and on the relevance of WTO Agreements.
Consisting of thirteen 30 to 50 minute lessons for a total of about 10 hours of self-paced learning, the course includes a range of e-learning methods such as storytelling, practical case studies, as well as interactive exercises. A set of PowerPoint slides, handouts and exercises, which can be easily customised by trainers for face-to-face training, are also available.
Available on CD-ROM and the Internet, access to the course is free of charge and is available directly on the FAO website http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/agns/capacity_en.asp
For more information: E-mail: elearningcodex@fao.org