EFSA / communication and common ground key to working together
A team from the FAO Food Safety and Quality Unit together with representatives from the Codex Secretariat and the FAO Nutrition Department travelled to Parma, Italy today to meet with the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA). The meeting was an opportunity to find common ground and share insights on a range of issues including scientific opinions, risk communication and possibilities for cooperation on major campaigns such as World Food Safety Day and the International Year of Plant Health.
Bernhard Url, Executive Director of EFSA opened the session welcoming the collaboration between EFSA and FAO in these areas.
Markus Lipp, Head of the FAO Food Safety and Quality Unit said: “I believe it's absolutely critical to have these communications or conversations” establishing personal contact and building the relationships that make it easy to collaborate.
FAO and EFSA meeting an opportunity to find common ground
“There's an impetus to talk and the visit allowed for an extremely positive exchange of views”, said Codex Secretary Tom Heilandt. It's good to hear what is happening in big agencies and to understand the EFSA approach because there are issues that it is not possible for one agency to face alone.
Marta Hugas, Chief Scientist, EFSA said how important it was for EFSA to be aligned with FAO and to try to address issues in a global way. “I hope we will keep working together for the public good, which is something that we are all committed to”, she said.
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At the heart of the Codex mandate are the core values of collaboration, inclusiveness, consensus building and transparency. Governmental and non-governmental, public and private organizations alike play a vital role in ensuring Codex texts are of the highest quality and based on sound science.
Codex would have little authority in the field of international standard setting if it did not welcome and acknowledge the valuable contributions made by observers. Expert technical bodies, industry and consumer associations
contribute to the standard-setting process in a spirit of openness, collaboration and transparency.
Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can apply for observer status in Codex in order to attend and put forward their views at every stage of the standard-setting process.
Current Codex Alimentarius Commission
EFSA / communication and common ground key to working together
A team from the FAO Food Safety and Quality Unit together with representatives from the Codex Secretariat and the FAO Nutrition Department travelled to Parma, Italy today to meet with the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA). The meeting was an opportunity to find common ground and share insights on a range of issues including scientific opinions, risk communication and possibilities for cooperation on major campaigns such as World Food Safety Day and the International Year of Plant Health.
Bernhard Url, Executive Director of EFSA opened the session welcoming the collaboration between EFSA and FAO in these areas.
Markus Lipp, Head of the FAO Food Safety and Quality Unit said: “I believe it's absolutely critical to have these communications or conversations” establishing personal contact and building the relationships that make it easy to collaborate.
FAO and EFSA meeting an opportunity to find common ground
“There's an impetus to talk and the visit allowed for an extremely positive exchange of views”, said Codex Secretary Tom Heilandt. It's good to hear what is happening in big agencies and to understand the EFSA approach because there are issues that it is not possible for one agency to face alone.
Marta Hugas, Chief Scientist, EFSA said how important it was for EFSA to be aligned with FAO and to try to address issues in a global way. “I hope we will keep working together for the public good, which is something that we are all committed to”, she said.
Read more
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