UN/ECE WP.7 Secretariat

Cooperation with UNECE WP.7.
The Role of Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection.

Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection acts as the Polish Secretariat for co-operation with Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards .

The main tasks of the Polish Secretariat are:

• Performing function of link between WP.7 Secretariat (Geneva) and Poland
• Coordination of activity regarding to work WP.7 in Poland
• Co-operation with Polish inspection bodies and official institutions in the scope of WP.7
• Assurance of property documents circulation
• Organizing the coordination meetings for harmonizing the Polish position for the forthcoming Sessions
• Transmitting the Polish comments and proposals to the WP.7 Secretariat (Geneva)
• Distribution the invitation and other documents on specialized sections meetings
• Notifying the participants of the session to the WP.7 Secretariat
• Collecting all document in the Polish Secretariat library
• Distributing and promoting knowledge on UNECE Standards and other tasks.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) was set up on 28 March 1947 by ECOSOC (Economic and Council) and is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations. It is the forum where the countries of western, central and eastern Europe, central Asia and North America – 55 countries in all – come together to forge the tools of their economic cooperation. That cooperation concerns such areas as economics, statistics, environment, transport, trade, industry and enterprise development, sustainable energy, timber and habitat.
UNECE has been working for more than 50 years on commercial quality standards for a wide range of agricultural products: fresh fruit and vegetables, dry and dried fruit, potatoes, meat products, eggs and egg products and cut flowers. The standards are used by governments, producers, importers and exporters as well as other international organizations. Polish has belong to UNECE from the beginning her activity.

The role of UNECE standards:

• To define a common trading language
• To fill the gap between food safety regulations and marketing
• To define commercial quality for foodstuffs

UNECE goals:

• Encourage economic co-operation
• Provide a forum for governments to develop conventions, regulations and standards
• Facilitate integration of member states

The Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards (WP.7) operates in the Committee on Trade Industry and Enterprise Development Its Specialized Sections are:

• Specialized Section on Standardization of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
• Specialized Section on Standardization of Dry and Dried Products (Fruits)
• Specialized Section on Standardization of Potatoes (Seed)
• Specialized Section on Standardization of Meat
• Specialized Section on Standardization of Cut Flowers – adjourned since die
• Specialized Section on Standardization of Eggs and Eggs Produces - adjourned since die

We encourage you to browse WP. 7 UN/ECE website: www.unece.org/trade/agr