***********************************************************
The 46th Session of Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) opened in Hong Kong today (March 17). It is the first CCFA meeting held in Hong Kong since China started serving as the host country of CCFA.
The session runs from March 17 to 21 at the Regal Airport Hotel. The Vice Minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, Mr Chen Xiaohong, and the Secretary for Food and Health of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Dr Ko Wing-man, officiated at the opening ceremony of the session today.
Representatives from 54 member countries and one member organisation as well as 34 international organisations worldwide have participated in this year's session to have in-depth discussions and exchanges on various issues in relation to the General Standard of Food Additives and other safety regulation of food additives.
Upon completion of the session, the Report of the 46th Session of CCFA including conclusions and recommendations will be submitted to the 37th Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) for deliberation and adoption this July.
As a subsidiary body of the CAC, CCFA is responsible for the use and safety of food additives as well as setting the regulatory standards for individual food additives, which are coherent and practicable with scientific basis, for adoption by its member countries and organisation. The CAC, jointly established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization, develops food safety standards, codes of practice and guidelines, which have become the global reference point for consumers, food producers and processors, national food control agencies and the international food trade.
China has been responsible for organising and chairing the annual session of CCFA since it was elected as the host country of CCFA in 2006.
Ends/Monday, March 17, 2014
Issued at HKT 17:35
NNNN
