CCLAC

#Codex Colloquium of CCLAC concludes with a robust preparation for upcoming #Codex meetings

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The second and third days of the CCLAC Codex colloquium, co-organised by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the Coordination for the Codex Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean (CCLAC): Costa Rica and the United States Department of Agriculture (US DA), held at the headquarters of IICA concluded today March 6th, 2014.

Participants in CCLAC Codex Colloquium

Participants in CCLAC Codex Colloquium

Review of Agenda items of major upcoming meetings

Participants had a chance to engage in extensive discussions on agenda items currently identified for major upcoming Codex committees: Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR), Codex Committee on Contaminants in Food (CCCF), Codex Committee on General Principles (CCGP) etc

Delegations were able to exchange their views on these items with the purpose to help them prepare national positions.

Promoting Effective participation / Mitigate language barriers

Members discussed measures to enhance effective participation from the region. In particular, the issue of timely availability of Codex documents in Spanish was raised. Participants also expressed their concern over their inability to systematically contribute effectively in electronic Working Groups (WGs), if these WGs are held in English only. Amongst the ideas that were suggested to mitigate this issue was to have members of the region volunteer to co-chair the e-WG of interest, with the intent to enable availability of documents in Spanish (by the member country from the region, co-chairing) and therefore foster participation into the e-WG in Spanish. The same approach could apply for other languages as warranted. Having members take turns in assuming this function would help share the burden/costs and support the region to be more effectively represented in these proceedings.

Discussion of implementation of the Codex strategic plan and other matters:

Participants had also the opportunity to discuss in groups and at plenary, some aspects related to the implementation of the Codex Strategic Plan 2014-19 and concrete contributions from the region to support such implementation.

Final note:

Codex Costa Rica Team with CCLAC Regional Coordinator (Ms. Isabel Cristina Araya) and Dr. Gilherme Costa, Candidate for Vice Chair (Brazil)

Codex Costa Rica Team with CCLAC Regional Coordinator (Ms. Isabel Cristina Araya) and Dr. Gilherme Costa, Candidate for Vice Chair (Brazil)

Having been given the opportunity to either observe or contribute in the colloquium work, I have appreciated the level of engagement, investment and commitment of participants from the region to Codex proceedings, the importance of Codex’s work and its impact on food regulatory and standard setting activities in the region. I have also witnessed how an effective regional coordination, such as that demonstrated by the Codex team from Costa Rica, as the regional coordinator, can lead to increased members’ awareness of major issues and challenges and foster their involvement and active contribution in Codex work.

With Dr. Gilherme Costa at the CCLAC Codex Colloquium
With Dr. Gilherme Costa at the CCLAC Codex Colloquium

This meeting gave me the opportunity to exchange ideas and discuss our upcoming food standard setting priorities in Codex with Dr. Gilherme Costa (Brazil), candidate for the Vice Chair position of the CAC.

In front of the Canada Room, where several proceedings took place, at IICA's headquarters

In front of the Canada Room, where several proceedings took place, at IICA’s headquarters

I appreciated the generous and gracious hospitality of IICA as the host organisation, supported by the US DA and Costa Rica as the regional coordinator.  Meeting organisers and participants are to be congratulated for a very well-run and attended colloquium and a flawless and efficient organisation. A very successful event.

Codex Challenges and future directions discussed at the @CODEXCCLAC – IICA Colloquium

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IICA CCLAC US DA Colloquium was opened on March 4th 2014.

I was given the opportunity to take part in the Codex Colloquium organised by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the Coordination for the Codex Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean (CCLAC): Costa Rica and the United States Department of Agriculture (US DA) on Codex standard development.

The colloquium is gathering representatives of most Latin American and Caribbean countries who are either participating in person or through web streaming. The meeting is taking the form of a three day workshop from March 4th to 6th 2014, inclusive.

The meeting is an opportunity to enhance communication amongst member countries of the region, to discuss key Codex files, challenges and agenda items for upcoming Codex committees, with an attempt to share views, data and information and with the goal of coordinating positions of countries from the region.

I will attempt to use this medium to share with you the outcomes of most of the discussions in which I had/ am having the opportunity to contribute.

Today’s (March 4th) proceedings were opened by officials from IICA, US DA and senior officials of the Government of Costa Rica: the Vice Minister of the Economy and the CCLAC coordinator.

My colleague Dr. Guilherme Costa (Brazil) and I had the opportunity to open the discussions on challenges to be faced by Codex as an organisation in the upcoming period, as well as the way we would address such challenges as engaged members. Some of the challenges discussed by participants included:

– Sustainability of Codex as an organisation and the sustainability of our ability to contribute to codex standard development as members. The discussion also encompassed the way to address the sustainability of scientific advice and ways to ensure timely availability of key scientific assessments to inform health protection standards

– Relevance of codex standards and their responsiveness to members’ needs and to emerging issues

– Effective participation of all members in Codex standard development and ways to enhance it, in particular for developing nations

– Workflow management and timely advancement of codex standards

– Ways to address current polarisation of positions witnessed over the latest couple of commission meetings

Ms. Isabel Cristina Araya, Coordinator for CCLAC, provided hers and CCLAC’s perspective on these challenges and others.

Other open discussions amongst participants were held supported by an initial presentation made by a member or an expert from the region. These discussions focussed on:

– Preparation of country positions for various codex committee agenda items and the various processes followed to engage domestic stakeholders on these positions

– Coordination of positions within the CCLAC community and with other regions

– Fostering the availability of scientific data from the region, in response to JECFA’s calls for data

Dr. Jose Luis Rojas Martinez, discussing the importance of scientific data provided by the Region in response to JECFA and other expert bodies calls

Dr. Jose Luis Rojas Martinez, discussing the importance of scientific data provided by the Region in response to JECFA and other expert bodies calls

Participants congratulated the CCLAC coordination team for their exemplary efforts to engage and mobilise colleagues across the region in support of developing positions for key Codex agenda items. The pioneering efforts of CCLAC’s coordination in accessing and using virtual meeting tools on a regular basis to foster members’ participation across the region were highlighted.

Members of the CCLAC Coordination team

Members of the CCLAC Coordination team

This first session of the meeting also enabled an excellent networking opportunity amongst/between the various delegations participating from the Latin American and Caribbean region and other guest participants.