Status of Codex Alimentarius Program - Slovak Republic FAO/WHO –EURO Regional Training

1. Status of Codex Alimentarius Program - Slovak Republic FAO/WHO –EURO Regional Training Seminar on Codex Alimentarius Ing. Zuzana Bírošová, CSc. Department of Food Safety and Nutrition, Ministry of Agriculture of the Slovak Republic, Slovak Republic has been a full member of Codex Alimentarius Program FAO/WHO from 1994. Since the 1th May 2004 Slovak Republic has been a member of the European Union. Responsibility : Ministry of Agriculture in cooperation with Ministry of Health National Codex Contact Point: Ministry of Agriculture on the base of agreement with Ministry of Health delegated function of the National Codex Contact Point to the Food Research Institute, organisation under Ministry of Agriculture of the Slovak Republic. Food Research Institute Priemyselná 4 P.O. box 25 824 75 Bratislava 26 Tel. 02-50237 150 Fax: 02-55571417 E-mail: codex@vup.sk The contact details for the national Codex contact point: http://www.vup.sk/ National Codex website on this website you can find a reference to Codex Alimentarius with direct link to the CA FAO/WHO and also all CA documents which are translated to the Slovak language. National Codex Committee: In 1994 there has been established the Slovak Codex Committee, members of this committee are the experts from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Research Institute, State Veterinary and Food Administration and Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic. As a member of the European Union our experts have to take part in the meeting in the working group in the European Council and European Commission and from 2002 our experts take part in some Scientific Panels in EFSA. From this point of view nowadays we are reconstructing our Slovak Codex Committee and for all areas we form new working group, which will be consist from experts from research, control, government and industry, the head of every working group will be a member of National Codex Committee. This working group will prepare all statements and positions for CA, EFSA and EK. Explanation of any activities on Codex at a national level • Ministry of Agriculture • transpose CA standards to the national legislation • organise meetings of the National Codex Committee • distribute information from EFSA, EK, OECD and TBT/SPS in all areas which is covered byCodexCommittee too • approved and comment statements prepared by experts • approved participation of experts on the CA meetings • National Codex Contact Point • distribute all information and documents from CA to the Slovak stakeholders by e-mail, website and by journal “Trendy v potravinárstve” • translate some important CA documents to the Slovak language • organise and provide comments for CA documents • cooperate with consumer associations • give consultations to the stakeholders • provide lectures about CA in the universities • carry on the library of CA documents which is available for everybody without payment Attendance at Codex meetings Our experts take part in selected meetings. The selection is based on importance to our national economy and in accordance with the interest of country. As a member of European Union in some areas there is a competence of European Commission – in these areas our experts take part in coordination meetings in Brussels.