Codex60

Why we are celebrating a 60th anniversary (Codex@60)

The 44th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC44), held in November 2021, agreed that Codex@60 in 2023 would be a “wonderful occasion” to raise awareness about food safety and quality also in connection with the 5th celebration of World Food Safety Day (WFSD). CAC45 encouraged all Codex Members and Observers to use the opportunity of the Codex 60th Anniversary to plan and implement activities to build awareness of Codex and to engage high level political support for Codex work.
The 82nd Session of Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which took place in June 2022, further noted the guidance of FAO and WHO in holding a yearlong celebration of Codex@60 and the committee envisaged the anniversary as an opportunity to promote: the essential role Codex still plays impacting consumer health and fair practices in the food trade; the people of Codex, and the future of Codex.

Activities in the Codex Secretariat

For the Codex Secretariat the aim of Codex@60 is to mark the achievements of 60 years of standard setting with an event at CAC46 whilst at the same time relaunching the Codex website and transforming the "food code" of standards, guidelines and codes of practice and the Procedural Manual with a new format and layout and a digital object identifier to track downloads and citations.

Events throughout the Codex world

Codex Members, Observers and all those wishing to mark the 60th anniversary are being encouraged to share their events with the Codex Secretariat for publication on the website and in the Codex@60 special edition of the CAC annual magazine.
The anniversary is an opportunity to showcase the key benefits of Codex standards, though awareness raising events, case studies on impact and other success stories. But is also a chance to reflect on the future of Codex as part of the current global agenda and how it can contribute to the transformation of food systems.

Send your contributions to codex@fao.org.