Mauritius to consolidate food safety standards
Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - The Codex Trust Fund project, including the Codex Mauritius website, engaging the the Codex Alimentarius, a set of internationally recognised standards and guidelines aimed at protecting consumer health and ensuring fair practices in food trade was launched Thursday in Port-Louis.
Speaking at the event, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Maneesh Gobin, highlighted the importance of ensuring food safety from the level of primary production, supply chain till the consumer.
He observed that the Codex standards were used to harmonise national food safety regulations.
Mr. Gobin spoke on the imperative for food producers and traders to comply with Codex standards so that consumers could trust the safety and quality of food products.
For her part, World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative to Mauritius, Dr Anne Ancia, elaborated on the problematic issue of unsafe food consumption, stating that an estimated 600 million people, almost 1 in 10, fell ill after eating contaminated food and 420,000 died every year.
She said that food safety issues could significantly affect the socio-economic development of a country "hence, the need for regular inspection is primordial”.
Dr Ancia stated that the Codex Trust Fund supports countries to build strong, solid and sustainable national capacity to engage in Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). To further consolidate the Codex structures locally and to increase its participation in international food standards drafting at the level of the CAC, Mauritius has been filing for assistance from the Codex Trust Fund since 2012.
In 2020, Mauritius is the only country to be selected in the African region to receive funding to run activities geared towards building strong and sustainable national Codex systems with the ultimate aim of increasing its participation in the work of Codex.
-0- PANA NA/MA 29June2023
