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
Angola launches an information campaign about food safety
In the context of World Food Safety Day celebrations in Angola, FAO - together with WHO, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Social Action, Family and Women Empowerment - launched an awareness campaign about food safety.
Messages focused on the need for salespeople to apply good hygiene practices and handle food with clean hands, as well as the need to display products on clean surfaces. Consumers, on the other hand, are advised to wash their food well before eating or cooking it. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the campaign also recommends everyone to wear a mask in the markets, as well as to respect the physical distance of at least one metre. A spot showing good practices of food handling at a food market and at home is now being broadcasted on both TV and radio, at the national level. The spot was recorded in Asa Branca Market, a formal market at Cazenga municipality in Luanda, and a good example of a clean and organized market.
Asa Branca Market, Cazenga municipality in Luanda, Angola - ©FAO/Catia Marinheiro
Asa Branca Market was also the scenario chosen for the official celebrations of the World Food Safety Day in Angola. The Secretary of State for the Family and Promotion of Women - Elsa Bárber Dias dos Santos - and FAO Representative in Angola - Gherda Barreto - shared advice on food safety with the sellers, consumers and with the journalists. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and WHO were also present and active partners in the conversation.
Angola raises awareness about the importance of safe food in markets
The National Food Quality Control Service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of Angola celebrated the World Food Safety Day raising awareness about the importance of the provision of safe food in food markets. Carlos Chaves, INFOSAN Focal Point and Head of the Quality Control Department in the institution, moderated an internal workshop to discuss the issues and challenges that all actors in the food chain must face to maintain the safety of food sold in traditional markets, also during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants discussed the joint FAO and WHO messages presented during the webinars organized prior to the World Food Safety Day by the INFOSAN Secretariat to draw attention of network members to this important issue for improving public health.
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