The CCAFRICA Region - Regional Coordinator Uganda
The ‘Coordinating Committee for Africa’ was established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission in 1972 with a mandate to “exercise general coordination in the preparation of standards relating to the region of Africa”. The committee held its first meeting at FAO in 1974, with 19 countries in attendance.
As the new regional coordinator begins their term, the Agreement of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which came into effect in May 2020, has reinforced the need for an efficient and effective system for managing sanitary and phytosanitary measures, in particular food safety, across the continent as its borders open for trade.
The regional coordinator is based in the Uganda National Bureau of Standards, a statutory body under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Co-operatives which oversees, as part of its mandate, the promotion and use of standards.
As regional coordinator, Uganda intends to engage closely with countries via surveys, webinars and workshops to identify needs and emerging issues, create awareness of priority food safety issues and of Codex standards. A pilot study will also explore the food safety situation in broader terms across the region. By strengthening engagement with regional bodies such as the African Union, the African Organisation for Standardisation and the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, Uganda also aims to enhance advocacy work in the region.
CCAFRICA Coordinator
All information on Codex is public and free.
For regional enquiries contact:
CCAFRICA Secretariat
Uganda National Bureau of Standards Plot 2 - 12, Bypass Link, Industrial
& Business park, Kyaliwajala road,
P.O Box 6329 Kampala, Uganda
Tel: +256 (041) 7333250 / 0417333251 / 0417333252
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.unbs.go.ug
Codex Trust Fund training to build national capacity in Ghana
“Codex provides a real opportunity for collaboration but what does it actually mean to engage in a collaborative negotiation?”
This was the question posed by Susan Coleman, trainer and coach as a negotiations workshop running from 11-14 December 2018 got underway in Accra, Ghana for 26 members of the Ghana Standards Authority. The four-day programme is part of a Codex Trust Fund (CTF) project to build national capacity for effective engagement in Codex.
Mr Kofi Nagetey, Deputy Director General of the Ghana Standards Authority, welcoming participants, called for change in the approach delegates take when preparing to attend international Codex meetings. “We do not articulate our position well or negotiate well,” he said. He described how when Africans meet together, they talk, they contribute, but “in the international arena our voices are silent.” Nagetey underlined the importance of the workshop in building confidence. “From today our approach is going to change,” he said.
Key concepts in negotiation and mediation
Participants practice negotiating techniques in Accra workshop
The highly interactive and participatory programme will improve the negotiating and influencing skills of the participants so that they can better shape global policy as representatives of their country. Covering key concepts in negotiation and mediation, the course will build skills for Ghanaian Codex delegates to effectively prepare and represent national positions at Codex meetings.
Blaise Ouattara, FAO Regional Food Safety Officer for Africa, explained the overall aim of FAO with this project to provide “an understanding of how food standards are developed and support for the participation of Ghana in Codex,” and in so doing to address the two fundamental issues of protecting public health and facilitating fair practices in food trade.
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