FAO/WHO Regional Workshop on Codex Alimentarius 2007

The FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission during its 30th Session, which took place on 2nd – 7th July 2007 in Rome, has decided that the next 26th Session of FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Europe (CCEURO) will be organized in Poland.

Poland as the formal host country of the CCEURO in co-operation with Switzerland – the present FAO/WHO Coordinator for Europe organized the 1st FAO/WHO – EURO Regional Workshop on Codex Alimentarius which was held in Warsaw (Poland) from 1st till 3rd October 2007. The Workshop was jointly organized by the Governments of Switzerland (Swiss Federal Office of Public Health) and Poland (the Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development). Significant financial support was provided through the FAO/WHO Trust Fund for Enhanced Participation in Codex – funds earmarked by the Government of Switzerland for the European region. The Workshop was attended by 42 delegates from over 20 counties (Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo (UNMIK), Latvia, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Slovenia, Ukraine, Uzbekistanand) and representatives from the European Commission, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO). The Workshop was under the honorable auspices of Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Republic of Poland.

The general purpose of the Workshop was to involve less active countries of the European region in Codex works.
Main objectives of the Workshop were as follows:

• to raise awareness of the significance of country participation in the international standard-setting activities of the Codex Alimentarius Commission,
• to increase the understanding of the structures and procedures of the Codex Alimentarius Commission,
• to describe the issues to consider when establishing a national Codex framework to facilitate active involvement in Codex,
• to discuss the use of Codex standards in national food quality and safety programmes in the European context,
• to encourage efforts to continue to strengthen national Codex programmes through further information dissemination activities,
• to receive feed-back on challenges in the region and future capacity building needs on Codex-related activities.

During the Workshop there were lectures and presentations provided. Within the framework of the training additional poster session on Codex Works at national level was held and simulation of Codex Session was conducted.
The participants of the Regional Workshop on Codex Alimentarius in Warsaw concluded that the Workshop was very useful and there is a strong need to organize such meetings more often and continue the regional activities to strengthen the European representation and inputs during the Codex meetings.

FAO WHO Regional Workshop Report on the Codex Alimentarius 2007

Power Point Presentations:
Codex Trust Fund
Considerations for selecting national delegations
Function of Codex Committees and Role of CCEURO
How does Codex elaborate standards
Seminar Objectives Warsaw 1-3 October 2007
Successful components in Codex programmes Poland
Successful components in Codex programmes Sweden
Understanding Codex Documentation
What is Codex

Posters:
Poster- slovak rep.
Poster,Slovenia
Poster-Czech rep.
Poster-Hungary
Poster-Romania
Poster-Serbia