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
Nigerian university professor sends a clear message on World Food Safety Day
On World Food Safety Day in particular, people are often reminded that if food is not safe, it is not food. In her address to the annual World Food Safety Day workshop at the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Nigeria, Professor Folake Henshaw went further. “If your food is not safe,” she told the 1000-seater hall, “it’s poison!”
Henshaw is well known for her outspoken and passionate approach to spreading the word on food safety. Indeed, one of the reasons for such an assertive approach was highlighted by Vice Chancellor of FUNAAB, Professor Kolawole Salako, who made the point that in Nigeria, food insecurity can often be an issue, and in those times, food safety is less of a priority. If people don’t have food, they are “bound not to mind food safety,” he said, continuing with “a hungry man does not care about whether it is safe or not.”
Henshaw teaches in the College of Food Science and Human Ecology (COLFHEC) and coordinates the Food Safety Ambassador Network (FOSAN) at the University. In her address she went on to describe the different food safety hazards that can arise and the ways in which unsafe food can make us ill. She also outlined the impacts of foodborne illness not only on human health, but also on health systems and economies.
She also commended the university management for always supporting the workshop, which has been a feature in the university calendar since the very first World Food Safety Day in 2019.
Read more: https://unaab.edu.ng/college-of-food-sciences-and-human-ecology-colfhec/
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