São Paulo – Guilherme Costa of Brazil has been appointed president of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, an arm of the United Nations tasked with setting international standards in food production, control, inspection and sales, the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply reported on Tuesday (9).
The Ministry said Costa is a veterinarian and federal agricultural inspector currently serving a stint as agricultural attaché at the Embassy of Brazil in Brussels, Belgium. He started his first term in 2017, was reelected in 2018 and got reappointed on Monday (8) during the Commission’s 42nd session in Geneva, Switzerland.
Codex Alimentarius standards are designed to protect consumer health and ensure fair practices in food trade. According to the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Costa stressed the relevance of those two pillars in achieving food security and said the organization’s work “must be underpinned by science.”
Codex Alimentarius was created in 1963 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). It currently boasts 189 member countries.
“All countries have a duty to ensure that Codex standards and guidelines are developed and updated to achieve these goals,” WHO director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus said. “very person in every country deserves safe food and therefore every country should be able to participate effectively in the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission,” said FAO assistant director general Bukar Tijani.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
