Riyadh, September 25, 2023, The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome hosted the 11th meeting of the Codex Coordinating Committee for the Near East (CCNE), which was presided over by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA). Among the recommendations made at the meeting were that Saudi Arabia take on the leadership of two electronic working groups and share its expertise in the Healthy Food Strategy (HFS) with other member states.
The committee members decided to move forward with the draft standard for maamoul, which was put forth at CCNE9 in 2017 and discussed at CCNE10 in 2019, while adhering to the Codex procedures manual. They also agreed to work with WHO and FAO to provide the technical assistance required by the countries in the region for a sustainable and healthy diet. The CCNE action plan for 2024–2025 will be developed by one of the two electronic working groups that SFDA will chair, while the other will focus on bringing regional norms in line with the Codex General Standard for the Labeling of Non-Retail Containers of Food.
17 member states from the Near East region participated in the coordination committee meeting, which was held from September 18 to September 22. Topics connected to regional and Codex standards were covered. Attending the meeting were representatives from the FAO, WHO, and the Codex Alimentarius Commission Secretariat. By working with WHO, the SFDA demonstrated its advanced expertise in creating national monitoring systems and entering information about food safety into the WHO GEMS/Food database. The Secretariat of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the committee members commended SFDA for its assistance.
