The CCLAC Region - Regional Coordinator Ecuador
In 1976 a Coordinating Committee for Latin America, established by the 10th Codex Alimentarius Commission in 1974, held its first meeting in Rome with eight countries from the region in attendance. At its third session a proposal was made to change the name of the committee to its current form (Coordinating Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean) as this better reflected the membership of the region. In 1984 at its 31st session, the Executive Committee, acting on behalf of the Commission, agreed to this change.
The region of Latin America and the Caribbean is an important actor in the production and trade of food at a global level. The region produces enough food to supply itself and to export, with both water and land resources to produce even more.
The region has enormous natural wealth, a flourishing agricultural industry and a family farming sector that is essential for its population. The promotion and strengthening of food safety must be continued at the level of all regions to guarantee the health of consumers and fair and equitable trade.< /p>
The coordinator, Ecuador is based in AGROCALIDAD an agency attached to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. They aim to create synergies between countries in the region, to provide mutual support in order to overcome regional problems and examine solutions to common challenges.
The coordinator further aims to strengthen collaboration among countries and strengthen the participation of developing countries in the Commission and its subsidiary bodies.
CCLAC Coordinator
All information on Codex is public and free.
For regional enquiries contact:
CCLAC Secretariat
Agencia de Regulación y Control Fito y
Zoosanitaria AGROCALIDAD
Avenida
Eloy Alfaro y Amazonas
Quito
Email: [email protected]
An ‘original’ risk analysis workshop takes place in the Dominican Republic
Constanza Vergara and Claudio Canales of the Chilean Codex Committee (ACHIPIA) used a methodology that combines science with creativity to build the capacity of food safety risk managers and communicators to analyse risks in a workshop on 28-30 August in Santo Domingo. The training session was part of the twinning programme of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) aimed at strengthening the Codex Alimentarius in the region.
"We believe that the experience of Chile will be very useful to the Dominican Republic, and in return our Chilean friends can enrich their initiatives with what this country has to offer," said the IICA representative of the Dominican Republic, Frank Lam, who opened the meeting.
The initiative was promoted by the Dominican Republic Codex Contact Point, Fátima Rosario Cabrera of the Codex Alimentarius National Committee (CONCA), and Modesto Pérez, who, together with IICA convened the meeting. Thirty-five people from the Ministries of Public Health, Agriculture, the National Institute for the Protection of Consumer Rights, the Dominican Institute of Quality, INDOCAL, the National Council for the Regulation and Promotion of the Dairy Industry, CONALECHE, Experts of the Food Industry and health professionals in areas related to the subject were in attendance.
Centred on a creative action methodology, the workshop began with Vergara, who explained the basic concepts of food safety risk analysis and its relationship with the Codex Alimentarius, then expanded to risk assessment and the prioritization of hazards, with theoretical-practical sessions of prioritization, evaluation of microbiological risks and the establishment of maximum residue limits. The second day focused on perception and risk management, then moved to risk communication.
Canales spoke about the communication model used by the Chilean Agency for Food Safety and Quality (ACHIPIA), which is based on creativity, and presented communication initiatives that have been developed from that model. The workshop focused on the dynamics that sparked the creative process for participants, which included designers, journalists, lawyers and risk managers, with whom the methodology was used to lead to the development of local communication strategies based on creativity and promoting food safety education based on original solutions. Canales pointed out that risk communication is more than a scientific process; it is a social process that is determined by several factors - from the general public’s and authorities’ knowledge of risks and food hazards to the social, political and economic situation of the country.
Read more (Spanish)
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