Closer cooperation with ISO on methods of analysis and sampling
On March 14th in Geneva, Codex Secretary Tom Heilandt met with Mr Zhang Xiaogang, President of ISO, the International Organization for Standardization which has Observer status in Codex Alimentarius. ISO International Standards ensure that products and services are safe, reliable and of good quality, just as Codex Standards ensure food is safe, protect consumer health and promote fair practices in food trade.
Also present were Mr Zhu Jianwei, Senior Engineer Ansteel and Assistant to Mr Zhang and Mr Kevin Mckinley, Acting Secretary General ISO.
Topics discussed included closer cooperation on methods of analysis and sampling and especially more ISO input and participation to Codex work in this area as well as other Codex committees.
It was agreed that ISO will examine the possibility of Codex staff members participating in ISO trainings to learn more about the practices used by ISO in consensus building, remote meetings and speeding up the standard setting process.
Tom Heilandt said “ISO and Codex complement each other naturally, uniting science based standards with pratical know-how for implementation and enforceability".
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