A two-day training workshop for National Codex Committee (NCC) members and the officials of National Codex Contact Point (NCCP) of Bhutan was held from 15 to 16 October 2019 at Tashi Namgay Resort, Paro. The training workshop was organized by the Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority (BAFRA), Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, with the main objective to enhance the participation of Bhutan in the work of Codex through training of officials, including NCC members and by examining key areas in Codex standard setting.

Workshop participants

The training workshop included presentations, plenary discussions, and group activities  on the Codex Alimentarius Commission; Codex Procedural Manual; International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) and International Health Regulations. Participants explored the Codex process for the elaboration of standards, work on methods of analysis and sampling, GMOs, links between the International Plant Protection Convention and Codex; and Codex web tools.

Participants took part in a survey before and after the training and analysis of the results revealed significant improvement in the participants’ knowledge and understanding of core subject areas.

Kubir N Bhattarai, Focal Officer for Codex Bhutan said: "The training was important to make stakeholders realize their role in Codex work and the significance of their contribution in the international standard setting process".

The participants had the opportunity to engage in dialogue on their national food control system and identify gaps and challenges for Bhutan. In his welcoming remarks, Dr. Chador Wangdi, Offtg. Director General of BAFRA highlighted the importance of participation in Codex work to raise awareness on topics of national interest so that international Codex standards become suitable and applicable to Bhutan. “Codex standards are the bench mark standard for international food trade, and it is therefore very important that Bhutan takes preparatory steps to actively engage in the international standard setting process”, he said.

Participants during the post-training evaluation session

The training is a part of activities of the Codex Trust Fund (CTF) joint project for Bhutan, India and Nepal which aims to strengthen National Codex Structures through effective engagement of all stakeholders in Codex activities and the standard setting process. It further seeks to enhance the technical capacity of national experts to contribute to the scientific basis of Codex and promote regional cooperation. The workshop was also part of a follow-up activity to the training for Codex officials on the functioning and management of Codex work held at from 27 to 31 August 2019 in New Delhi, India.

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