FAO/WHO REGIONAL WORKSHOP

ON CODEX ALIMENTARIUS

Organized in collaboration with the Governments

of Switzerland and Poland

REPORT

1st – 3rd October, 2007

Warsaw, Poland

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FAO/WHO Regional Workshop on Codex Alimentarius, Warsaw, Poland, 1 – 3 October 2007

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization would like to express their appreciation to the Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection of Poland and the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health for their technical, organizational and financial support to this event. Gratitude is also extended to all members of the training team for their strong technical support and keen interest in this training course to strengthen Codex activities.In this regard, the release of experts from the Government of Swedenand The European Commission
is appreciated.

Finally, thanks are given to all course participants for their active participation throughout the course. It is hoped to lead to further collaboration in the regionand enhanced participation in standard setting activities within the framework of the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

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FAO/WHO Regional Workshop on Codex Alimentarius, Warsaw, Poland, 1 – 3 October 2007

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.INTRODUCTION

2.OPENING ADDRESS

3.TRAINING COURSE DESCRIPTION

4.OBJECTIVES OF THE REGIONAL TRAINING COURSE

5.PRESENTATIONS

6.PRACTICAL EXERCISES

6.1Review of TORs for selected Committees, review of relevant Agenda

6.2Posters on the Status of Codex Program

6.3Preparing National Positions

6.4The Mock Codex Session

6.5Prioritizing Codex Committees important for my country

7.FINAL COURSE EVALUATION

8.FINAL CONCLUSION

Annex 1

Annex 2

Annex 3

Annex 4

Annex 5

Annex 6

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FAO/WHO Regional Workshop on Codex Alimentarius, Warsaw, Poland, 1 – 3 October 2007

  1. INTRODUCTION

The FAO/WHO Regional Workshopon Codex Alimentarius was held in Warsaw (Poland) from 1st-3rd October 2007. The Training Seminar was jointly organized by the Governments of Switzerland (Swiss Federal Office in Switzerland) and Poland (The Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection and The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development). Significant financial support was provided through the FAO/WHO Trust Fund for Enhanced participation in Codex – funds earmarked by the Government of Switzerland for the European region. Travel arrangements for most delegates were organized by the Codex Trust Fund Secretariat in Geneva.
The Training Seminar was attended by 42 delegates from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, CzechRepublic, Hungary, Kosovo (UNMIK), Latvia, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, SlovakRepublic, Turkey, Slovenia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan. The trainers were Ms Mary Kenny (FAO) and Ms Awilo Ochieng Pernet (Swiss Federal Office of Public Health), Eva Rolfsdotter Lonberg (Codex Contact Point for Sweden), Ms Eva Zamora Escribano (European Commission), and Marta Sobieraj (Senior Specialist of Codex Contact Point
in Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection, Poland).

The list of participants is attached in Annex 1 and members of the training team are included in Annex 2.

  1. OPENING ADDRESS

The FAO/WHO Regional Workshop on Codex Alimentarius was officially opened
by Ms. Monika Rzepecka (The Chief Inspector of Agricultural and Food Quality, Codex Contact Point for Poland). She welcomed participants of the training seminarand addressed the participants by referring to the role of Codex standards as a base for national standards with the purpose of strengthening consumer protection and facilitating fair practices in the food trade.

Thereafter, Mr. Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski (Undersecretary of State of Ministry
of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland) warmly welcomed
all participants of the seminar on behalf of Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and underlined the importance of good quality and safe foods on international markets.

Ms. Awilo Ochieng Pernet representative from the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health extended gratitude to the Polish government for co-operation during preparing the seminar and expressed that it is our duty to achieve safe
and nutritious food.

Ms. Paulina Miskiewicz (Head of WHO Country Office in Poland) underlined that food safety programmes are focused on minimizing health threats through the realization of the strategy “farm to fork’’.

Ms. Mary Kenny representative from FAO welcomed participants to Warsaw
and emphasized the importance of the 1st Regional Workshop in Warsaw
as an introduction to the 26th Session of the FAO/WHO Regional Coordination Committee for Europe which will be held from 7th to 10th October 2008
in Warsaw (Poland).

  1. TRAINING COURSE DESCRIPTION

The training course included a number of training sessions combined
with practical exercises and working group sessions. The final agenda
is attached in Annex 3.

Training sessions focused mainly on increasing knowledge in the following aspects:

1)Structure, organization and procedures of the Codex Alimentarius Commission,

2)Establishing national Codex programmes including posters sessions.

3)Practical issues related to the work of Codex including a Mock Codex Session.

Workshop materials were based on the FAO/WHO training package “Enhancing participation in Codex activities” which is available
at

Additional training sessions were focused on the European Community relationship with Codex and EC Acquis, considerations for the next FAO/WHO Regional Coordination Committee for Europe (CCEURO), FAO/WHO Trust Fund, the FAO/WHO programme on the provision of scientific advice. In addition, delegates shared their experiences in working and understanding codex documents, and successful components and lessons learned in establishing national Codex programmes.

Practical exercises and working group sessions included prioritization of Codex Committees; topicsfor discussion for CCEURO; drafting national positions
on a Codex standard; preparation of national action plans;the Mock Codex Session and Posters on the Status of Codex Program (prepared by individual delegates).

All materials for this workshop are available in Russian and English language at.

  1. OBJECTIVES OF THE REGIONAL TRAINING COURSE

As an introduction to the training course, the objectives were outlined
as follows:

  • To raise awareness of the significance of country participation in the
    international standard-setting activities of the Codex Alimentarius
    Commission,
  • To increase the understanding of the structures and procedures of the
    Codex Alimentarius Commission,
  • To describe the issues to consider and plan for when establishing
    a national Codex framework to facilitate active involvement in Codex,
  • To discuss the use of Codex standards in national food quality and safety
    programmes in the European context,
  • To encourage efforts to continue to strengthen national Codex programmes
    through further information dissemination activities,
  • To receive feed-back on challenges in the region and future capacity building
    needs on Codex-related activities.
  1. PRESENTATIONS

The following topics were covered:

  • What is Codex? Statutes of the CAC. How is Codex organized?
  • Function of Codex Committees and role of the CCEURO.
  • Importance of Codex to European Countries, the European Community as a member of Codex and relationship between EC acquis and Codex standards
  • How Codex elaborates standards?
  • Developing national positions/written comments.
  • Review of the Agenda for the CCEURO and topical issues – linking to the process for call for written comments.
  • Getting involved and/or strengthening an existing programme – the role of the CCP.
  • Successful components and lessons learned in establishing national Codex programmes (Experience from Poland and Sweden).
  • Forming national delegations.
  • FAO/WHO Trust Fund for Participation in Codex.

All presentation are available at

  1. PRACTICAL EXERCISES

6.1Review of TORs for selected Committees, review of relevant Agenda

Participants were divided into small groups (max. 5 person) and asked to review the TORs for each Committee (as outlined in Procedural Manual).

Each group had to review the agenda of the last session of CCEURO(CX/EURO 07/25/1) – and one other technical Committee (as distributed).

Technical Agendas to be reviewed –

  1. 39th Session of Codex Committee on Food Hygiene, 30 October – 4 November 2007, New Delhi, India. CX/FH 07/39/1,
  2. Codex Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods derived from Biotechnology, Chiba, Japan, 24 – 28 September 2007. CX/FBT 07/7/1,
  3. 15th Session of Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems, 6 – 10 November 2006. CX/FICS 06/15/1,
  4. 28th Session of Codex Committee on Fish and Fishery Products, Beijing, China, 18 – 22 September 2007. CX/FFP06/28/1,
  5. 25th Session, 15-18 January 2007. CX/EURO/07.

6.2Posters on the Status of Codex Program

Delegates from Armenia, CzechRepublic, Hungary, Macedonia, SlovakRepublic, Serbia, Romania, Slovenia and Poland presented posters about Codex Programmes in their respective countries. All posters are available at

Armenia

Representation of Armeniapresented structure of Ministry of Agriculture
and FAO Regional Project - ,”FoodSafetyCapacityBuilding’’ .

CzechRepublic

Representation of CzechRepublic presented structure of Codex Alimentarius Commission including General Subject Committees, Commodity Committees, Intergovernmental Task Forces, Regional Coordinating Committee.

Hungary

Representation ofHungary presented status of Codex Program including structure of National Codex organisation (National Codex Committee, Secretariat of the National Codex Committee, National Contact Point).

Macedonia

Representation ofMacedonia presented Macedonian Codex for food including activities of Committee, rules passing procedure and governmental institutions.

SlovakRepublic

Representation ofSlovakRepublic presented structure of National Codex Point in SlovakRepublic.

Serbia

Representation ofSerbia presented activities on Codex at a national level.

Romania

Representation ofRomania presented institutes with competences in Codex Alimentarius, activities at national level, meetings attended by Romanian representatives.

Poland

Representation of Poland presented organisation of Polish governmental
and nongovernmental bodies involved in codex works,how Codex Contact Point operates, Polish participation in Codex sessions(2004-2007).

Slovenia

Representation of Sloveniapresented Codex Contact Point in Slovenia, ministries involved in cooperation with Codex Contact Point and stakeholders in Slovenia.

6.3Preparing National Positions

In preparation for the mock Codex session, participants were divided into groups representing countries Yellow, Green, Blue, Red, White, Brown, Orange and Observers – Milk United and Consumers Eat Food to prepare their position on aspecific topic. The issue selected was the draft Codex standard “Draft maximum level for aflatoxin M1 in milk” which proposes a maximum level for aflatoxin M1 in milk 0.5µg/kg. This topic was in fact discussed by the Codex Committee for Food Additives and Contaminants approximately 2001 – 2003 and the 56th Session of JECFA had provided toxicological guidance. Relevant working papers from Codex and JECFA reports were distributed to support the groups in this exercise.

Participants were divided into groups as follows:

  • COUNTRY YELLOW, COUNTRY GREEN,COUNTRY BLUE, COUNTRY RED,COUNTRY WHITE, COUNTRY BROWN

Participants were in groups responsible for preparing country’s position on the above draft standard to be presented by delegation attending the next session of the Codex Committee for Food Contaminants.

  • NGO – MILK UNITED

The group represented an NGO with Observer status in Codex. They were responsible for preparing the position of the Organization on the above draft standard to be presented by their delegation attending the next session of the Codex Committee for Food Contaminants.

  • CONSUMERS EATFOOD

The group represented an NGO with Observer status in Codex. They were responsible for preparing the position of Organization on the above draft standard to be presented by delegation attending the next session of the Codex Committee for Food Contaminants.

  • COUNTRY ORANGE

Members of the training team formed this country to encourage participants in discussion.

6.4The Mock Codex Session

Participants took part in the Mock Codex Session which was based on attending the simulation of the 2ndSession of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Food. The Agenda of the Session is attached as CX 07/02/1 (Annex 5).

Key players in Role Play exercise:

  • Chairperson –Ms Awilo OchiengPernet
  • Codex Secretariat – Ms Eva Lonsberg
  • HostCountry Secretariat – Ms Marzena Chacińska
  • JECFA Secretariat –Ms Mary Kenny
  • Rapporteur
  • FAO (unable to attend)
  • WHO(unable to attend)

During the mock session, all delegations made their interventions, and a draft report was prepared to document the main points of discussion and conclusions reached on this draft standard. Later in the workshop programme, time was allocated for reading and final adoption of the report. The draft report for training purposes is included in Annex 6.

6.5Prioritizing Codex Committees important for my country

The purpose of this exercise was to identify two Codex Committees/Task Forces which would be of significance to country.

The participants were divided into eight groups similar to countries, each of which, working independently, identified two relevant committees. The groups had 30 minutes to discuss the issue, identify the committees along with a rationale as to why those committees are of particular significance to their country. Each group then presented their views in plenary.

Results are as follows:

Priority Committees identified by participants of Seminar as follows:

  1. CAC, CCNMW
  2. CCFFV, CCPR
  3. CCFFV, CCPFV (CCPR, CCFICS)
  4. CCFICS
  5. CCPFV, TF-AMR
  6. CCGP, CCFICS
  7. CCFFP, CCFH
  8. CCFFP, CCFH
  1. FINAL COURSE EVALUATION

Participants were requested to complete an evaluation form to assist FAO/WHO and the training team in planning future training activities on Codex, and to identify other technical assistance needs in the region. The results of the evaluation are included in Annex 4.

  1. FINAL CONCLUSION

The participants of the 1st Regional Training Seminar in Warsawconcluded that the Seminar was very useful and there is a strong need to organize such meetings more often and continue the regional activities to strengthen the representation and inputs during the Codex meetings.

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FAO/WHO Regional Workshop on Codex Alimentarius, Warsaw, Poland, 1 – 3 October 2007

Annex 1

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

Country / Name/Position/Institution/
Address/Contact details
Albania / Valbona Paluka
General Director
Food Safety and Consumer Protection
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Protection
Tirana
Fax.: + 355 425 9333,
E-mail:
Kozeta Tusha
Chief of Food Safety Inspectorate in Tirana
Tirana Albania
Tel.: + 355 683 023443,
E-mail:
Armenia / Iren Melkonyan
Armenian Codex Contact Point
Foreign Relations and Marketing Department
Ministry of Agriculture
Yerevan
Tel.: 00374 93 542377,
Tel./Fax: 00374 10 52 46 10,
E-mail:
Azerbaijan / Kochari Imanov
Chief adviser of The Department of Quality of Food Products,
Standards and License. The Ministry of Agriculture.
Baku, Azerbaijan.
Tel.:994 12 598 21 59 +180, 994 12 472 71 17,
94 12 050 515 05 24 mob.,
E-mail:
Belarus / Alexey Rusinowitch
Head of Veterinary Production Department,
Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Minsk,
Tel.: + 375 12 22 71364,
Fax.:. + 375 12 22 71364,
E-mail:
BosniaHerzegovina / Sejad Mackic
Director
Food Safety Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ante Star cevica bb, 88000 Mostar
Tel.: + 387 51 348351,
Fax: + 387 51 348360,
E-mail:
Jasmina Bradic
Technical Advisor in the Veterinary Department
Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Marsala Tita St. 15
71000 Sarajevo
Tel.: + 387 33 211582,
Fax: + 387 33 445258,
E-mail: ,
Bulgaria / Petinka Nikolova Dimitrova
Chief expert
State Health Control Department
Directorate “Public Health”
Ministry of Health
5, Sveta Nedeliya sq. Sofia
Tel.: +359 2 9301266 (271),
E-mail:
Antoaneta Georgieva
Chief
Department Food Safety and food Control Directorate
Ministry of Agriculture and Food Supply
Sofia,
Tel.: +35929 85 11847,
E-mail: ,
Croatia / Jelena Đugum
Head of Department
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management
Zagreb
Tel.: +385 1 610 64 70,
Fax.:+385 1 610 91 89,
E-mail:
CzechRepublic / Lenka Rubesova
Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Food production and legislation department
Tesnov 17
117 05 Prague 1
Tel.: +420 221 812128,
Fax: +420 222 314117,
E-mail:
Hungary / Ágnes Szegedyné Fricz
Deputy head of department
Food Safety Chain Animal and Plant
Health Department, Food Industry Division
Ministry of Agriculture and Regional Development
1860 Budapest 55
Tel.: +36 1 301 4571,
Fax: +36 1 301 4808,
E-mail:
Kosovo (UNMIK) / Flamur Kadriu
Chief of Veterinary Public Health
Kosovo Veterinary and Food Agency
Tel.:Mobile + 37744 186462,
Tel.:Office: + 381 38 2525 314,
E-mail:
Besfort Gunga
Chief of Veterinary Border Inspection
Tel.:+37744 155650,
E-mail:
Latvia / Silvija Ziediņa
Senior Officer Of Food Division
Ministry of Agriculture
Riga,
Tel.: + 371702709 2,
Fax.: +371702720 5,
E-mail:
Macedonia / Lence Jovanovska
Head of Department for Legal Affair
Food Directorate
Ministry off Health
50 divizija No. 6
1000 Skopje
Tel.: 389 232 96324,
Fax.389 23296823,
E-mail:
Slavica Mihajlovska-Gjosik
Junior Associate
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy
Skopje
Tel.:+38975/761-470,
E-mail: ,
Stanislava Lazarevska
Director of Food Directorate
Ministry of Health of R. Macedonia
Ul. Vič br. 2
1000 Skopje
Tel.: +38971232840,
Fax.: +38923296823,
E-mail:
Poland / Paulina Miskiewicz
Head of the WHO Country Office in Poland
WHO Country Office in Poland
38/40 Długa St., 00-238 Warsaw
Tel.: +4822 635 94 96,
Fax: +4822 831 08 92,
mobile: +48 603 993405,
E-mail:
Emilia Kalińska
Specialist in the Department of Food Safety and Nutrition
Chief Sanitary Inspectorate
38/40 Długa St., 00-238 Warsaw
Tel.:+48 (022)536-13-36,
Fax.: +48 (022) 635-61-94,
E-mail:
Elżbieta Sakowska
Specialist in the Unit of Quality and Standardization,
Department of Agricultural Markets,
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
30 Wspólna St., 00-930 Warsaw
Tel.:+ 48 (022) 623 14 11,
Fax: + 48 (022) 624 24 54,
E-mail:
Elżbieta Brulińska
Deputy Head of the Laboratory,
Department of Food and Consumer Articles Research
National Institute of Hygiene
24 Chocimska St., 00-791 Warsaw
Tel. + 48 (022) 54 21362,
Fax: +48 (022) 54 21225,
E-mail:
Agnieszka Woźniak
Unit for Safety of Ford of Special dietary Uses
Department of Safety of food and Nutrition
National Food and Nutrition institute\61/63 Powsińska St., 02-903 Warsaw
Tel/Fax.: + 48 22 55 09688,
E-mail:
Janusz Książyk
Head of the Department of Pediatrics
Children’s Memorial Health Institute
20 Al. Dzieci Polskich, 04-730 Warsaw
Tel. + 48 (022) 815 12 16,
Fax:+ 48 (022) 815 12 12,
E-mail:
Magdalena Fabisiak
Specialist in the Unit of Food Safety and Hygiene
Department of Food Safety and Veterinary
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
30 Wspólna St., 00-930 Warsaw
Tel. + 48 22623 25 44,
E-mail:
Magdalena Kijkowska
Specialist in the Unit of Cooperation with EU Commission
Department of Food Safety and Veterinary
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
30 Wspólna St., 00-930 Warsaw
Tel. + 48 22623 10 51,
Fax:+ 48 22623 10 50,
E-mail:
Marzena Chacińska
Head of International Co-operation Department
Codex Contact Point for Poland
Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection
30 Wspolna St., 00-930 Warsaw
Tel. +48 22623 29 03,
Fax.+48 22623 29 97,
E-mail: ,
Anna Słomczyńska
Specialist in the International Co-operation Department
Codex Contact Point for Poland
Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection
30 Wspolna St., 00-930 Warsaw
Tel. + 48 22623 29 04,
Fax: 48 22623 29 97,
E-mail:
Romania / Simona Radulescu
Chief of Food Quality Service
National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority
Bucharest
Tel. + 40 21 3078 568,
E-mail:
Sonia LuminitaPesel
Senior Counsellor
European Integration and International Relation Division
Bucharest,
Tel. + 4021 315 78 75/119,
Mobile Tel.: +40744 260435,
E-mail: ,
Russian Federation / Aleksandr Baturin
Deputy Director of the Institute of Nutrition
RussianAcademy of Medicine Science (RAMS)
Moscow 109240
Ustilskij Projiezd 2/14,
Tel.:/Fax:+ 749569855379,
E-mail:
Serbia / Ivan Stanković
Professor, Schoolof Pharmacy
Dept.of Bromatology and Food Safety Control
Belgrade University
Vojvode Stepe 450
11221 Belgrade
Tel. +381 11 3970 379/Ext. 745,
Fax: +381 11 3974 349,
E-mail: ,
Mary Puskarica
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Managment
Veterinary Directorate
Department for Veterinary Public Health
1 Omladinskih brigada St.
11070 New Belgrade
Tel.: + 381 11 2604-629,
Fax: + 381 11 311-76-57,
Cell: + 381 64 86-80-412,
E-mail: ,
SlovakRepublic / Zuzana Birosova
Director
Food Safety Department
Food Industry Section
Ministry of Agriculture of the Slovak Republic
Dobrovicova 12
Bratislava 812 66
Tel. 00421 2 59266 571,
Fax: 0421 2 529637 38,
E-mail:
Slovenia / Blaža Nahtigal
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food
Directorate for Food Safety
Dunajska 58, 1000 Ljubljana
Tel. + 386 1478 9398,
Fax: + 386614789055,
E-mail:
Turkey / Nilüfer Altunbaş
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
General Directorate of Protection and Control
Feed and Food Registration Services Department
Codex Division
Akay Cad. No:3 Bakanlıklar/Ankara 06100
Tel: +90 312 417 41 76 ext 6210,
Fax: + 90 311 425 44 16,
E-mail:
Ukraine / Sergiy Melnychuk
Director at Ukrainian Laboratory
Quality and Safety of Agricultural Products
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
Kiev 03041
Tel.:/Fax.+ 38044258 42 59,
E-mail:
Mykola Prodanchuk
Head of National Commission of Ukraine of Codex Alimentarius
Director of Institute of Ecohygine and toxicology
Ministry of Health Ukraine
03680 Kyiv
Hezoiv Obozony St. 6
Tel.:+ 386 (44) 526 97 00,
Tel.:+ 386 (44) 526 96 47,
E-mail:
Uzbekistan / Komil Mukhamedov
Leading expert of Sanitary Department
Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan
Tashkent
Tel./Fax +998 71 1394198,
E-mail:
Satvaldiev Abduhakim
Chief of the Hygiene And Nutrition Department
Sanitary/Epidemiological inspection
Ministry of Public Health
Tashkent
Tel./Fax + 998 712 76 6181,
E-mail:

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