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
East African Community Codex Trust Fund group project launched, Nairobi, Kenya
By Hakim Mufumbiro, Regional Coordinator CCAFRICA
On Tuesday, 3rd May 2022 at the Tribe Hotel in Nairobi, the Codex Contact Point (CCP) Officers from Burundi, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda met to formally launch the East African Community (EAC) Codex Trust Fund Project for the five countries to pave way for implementation of priority planned activities. The group project seeks to build solid and sustainable Codex systems within the EAC Partner States.
The launch and regional workshop was held to mainly review, update and update project activities to be held at both national and regional level for the period June to September 2022 as well as rationalize the available resources and update the budget.
During the opening of the workshop, the Chief Manager, Standards Development and Trade at Kenya Bureau of Standards, Mr. Zacharia Lukorito underscored the critical importance of food safety and Codex in supporting meeting public health objectives as well as trade.
The Principal Standards Officer at the EAC Secretariat, Ms. Stella Apolot acknowledged support provided for Codex activities in the region through the EU-EAC Market Access Upgrade Programme (MARKUP)/GIZ and pledged to provide technical support to the participating countries during the implementation of the planned project activities.
In his remarks, the Food Safety and Quality Officer at FAO Regional Office for Africa, Dr. Blaise Ouattara appreciated the commitment of the five Countries implementing the CTF Group Project and urged delegates to build synergies within the EAC region to effectively and efficiently solve current and emerging food safety issues.
The main outcome of the workshop was the agreement to undertake between June and September 2022, five priority activities at the national level and six activities at the regional level detailed in the Project Implementation Plan. The participating countries pledged to implement the activities as planned.
To foster efficiency and effectiveness of implementation of the planned priority activities, the FAO Regional Office for Africa committed to initiate the process of availing funds to the different participating countries in May 2022 and to convene a virtual meeting of FAO country offices contact persons with the CCPs to engage on technical and administrative support functions.
As a result of the regional workshop, participating countries were encouraged to initiate a process of developing concept notes and terms of reference for the different activities in advance as well as plan to undertake national stakeholders awareness workshops on food safety and Codex leveraging on the celebrations for World Food Safety Day in June 2022.
About the Codex Trust Fund
The CTF is a development partnership located at the heart of the global Codex system and is based on a mandate given directly by all Codex Member Countries, comprising developing and transition economy countries, developed countries as well as FAO and WHO. It focuses explicitly on supporting more effective engagement of developing and transition economy countries in the Codex system, has direct entry into the national Codex systems of developing countries, in particular through national Codex Contact Points and national Codex coordinating structures and has access to the internal capacities and external networks of the Codex Secretariat and its parent organizations FAO and WHO.
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