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
Raising the profile of food safety in Chad
The Cabinet d’Expertise Six Sigma, a food safety awareness organization in Chad, held a series of World Food Safety Day events in efforts to raise the profile of food safety in the country.
The events ranged from film viewings and speeches to conversations with people who have had foodborne disease, and with restaurateurs who talked about their food safety priorities.
The organization recorded these conversations and distributed awareness videos, and they invited the media to attend their events. In national TV coverage, Cabinet d’Expertise Six Sigma president, Adoumbaye Sylvain, spoke about the connection between food safety and food security. “About a week ago,” he said, “our nation declared a state of food and nutrition emergency. This is a situation which forces many to eat food that does not meet good quality standards.”
He called on the government to take effective and immediate action on food safety, “a condition sine qua non for the achievement of food security and the Sustainable Development Goals.”
Sylvain said the government should prioritize food safety: “There’s no food security without taking into account food safety, which touches public health,” he said.
Watch the videos
Sylvain’s speech
Conversations with restaurateurs
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