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
Eritrea improving Codex coordination for national food standards
A consultative workshop on National Codex issues was organized on 6 December 2019 in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. The main objectives of the workshop were to discuss national food control systems, including Codex, and to begin preparation of a project proposal for the Codex Trust Fund.
Mr Arefaine Berhe, Minister of Agriculture, who officially opened the session, told the Ministry of Information website shabait.com that food safety was central to survival and wellbeing and that regulating national food standard had become a timely issue.
Mr Arefaine Berhe, Minister of Agriculture (left)
The workshop was supported by FAO under the umbrella of the Ministry of Agriculture, where an international expert was recruited by FAO to lead the consultative process.
The representative of FAO in Eritrea, Mr Saeed Abubaker Bancie said that National Food Standard (Codex) work was an integral component of a national food control system and that food safety and quality were important aspects of food and nutrition security. Mr. Saeed also expressed FAO’s commitment to work with the Government of Eritrea to improve the Codex coordination mechanism.
Mr. Tekleab Misgina, D. G. Regulatory and Control at the Ministry of Agriculture said that National Food Standards had been established in 2004 under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture, and that the objective of the workshop was to further develop this initiative.
Participants in the workshop
The workshop was extremely well attended with over 50 participants taking part, including all relevant government institutions, the EU and UN resident offices in Eritrea.
Read more
WHO country profile for Eritrea
Leave a comment