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
Guinea launches Codex Trust Fund project
Guinea launched its Codex Trust Fund 2 project at a workshop held on 14 and 15 May 2019, which was marked by the presence of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Industry and SMEs, the Minister's Adviser on responsibility for Quality and Innovation, the DG of the Guinean Institute for Standardization and Metrology, the President of the National Codex Committee and the participation of the relevant ministerial departments (health, agriculture, livestock, fisheries, environment, trade, finance, cooperation) as well as representatives of civil society and partners (WHO, FAO and UNIDO).
The overall objective of the Guinea project is to develop knowledge and consideration of Codex Alimentarius standards with a view to improving the conformity and competitiveness of food traded on local, regional and international markets.
The workshop was also an opportunity to review and validate several advocacy tools developed to raise awareness among different stakeholders across the country on the importance of Codex standards, one of the main objectives of the Codex project.
The Secretary General of the Ministry of Industry and SMEs thanked development partners, especially FAO and WHO for their support for capacity building and skills of actors in the food value chain. "The tools that will come out of your work, will serve as references for strong messages to the members of the government, the technical and financial partners and all the stakeholders for consideration in our programming, the activities of the Codex Alimentarius, its working bodies and the functioning of the National Codex Committee (CNC)", he said.
The Secretary General assured the participants that the government will spare no effort in deploying the tools at departmental level by including Codex activities in their annual budgets.
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