Food Chemical News | Volume 43, Number 14
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization last week proposed setting up a $98 million fund to help the world's least developed countries improve the safety and quality of their food products.
Unveiled at a UN conference on least developed countries (LDCs) in Brussels, Belgium, the fund would support projects to develop, rehabilitate, upgrade and sustain national food safety and quality systems. It also would help these countries comply with international requirements and participate in international standard-setting bodies such as the Codex Alimentarius (see FCN, May 7, Page 23).
"Improving the safety and quality standards of LDC agricultural and fisheries products would significantly improve their export performance and, at the same time, protect their domestic consumers and those in importing countries," FAO said in a statement.
The fund would be set up with voluntary contributions from bilateral and multilateral donors. It would take about $2 million per country, or $98 million total, for the 49 LDCs to achieve this objective within three to five years, FAO said.
U.S. Codex draft positions to be unveiled June 6
The U.S. delegation to the Codex Alimentarius Commission will unveil draft positions for review and comment at a public meeting June 6 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Washington Plaza Hotel in Washington, D.C. The CAC session is scheduled for July 2-7 in Geneva, Switzerland (see FCN, Jan. 8, Page 14).
The U.S. delegation to the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene will hold two public meetings prior to the next CCFH session Oct. 8-13 in Bangkok, Thailand. Tentative dates for the public meetings are Aug. 30 and Sept. 30 in Washington, D.C. The first meeting will review the technical content of agenda item documents. The second will review draft U.S. positions.
Exact times and places for the CCFH public preparatory meetings have yet to be determined. "The date of the initial public meeting is highly dependent upon the availability of the documents," according to FDA.
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