Rio de Janeiro, R.J., Brazil,
June 10, 2008
5th Meeting Pan American
Commission on Food Safety
The COPAIA - Pan American Commission
on Food Safety was established in 2001
on a proposal submitted by the Brazilian
delegation and approved by the Ministers
of Health and Agriculture of the Americas
at the 12th Inter-American Meetings,
at Ministerial Level, on Health and
Agriculture (RIMSA 12). Its establishment
was prompted by the increasingly frequent
outbreaks of food-transmitted diseases,
the expansion of world food trade, and
the advances in the food production
and processing technology. COPAIA is
a collective, hemispheric effort by
PAHO Member States, aimed at arriving
at a clear understanding of the situation
and at finding solutions for reducing
health risks posed by food.
As pointed out by PAHO Director Dr.
George Alleyne on the occasion of COPAIA’s
establishment, “food safety is an issue
of steadily growing interest in the
Americas; unless it is properly addressed,
it can have a negative impact on economic
development and on tourism.” Dr. Alleyne
also said that “our firm hope is that
COPAIA will lead to closer cooperation
between the health and agricultural
sectors and between food producers and
consumers, with a view to improving
the health and well-being of the populations
of our member countries.”
To date, COPAIA has
held four meetings: its inaugural meeting
on May 4, 2001; a special meeting to
approve its terms of reference, on February
27, 2002; a meeting on the occasion
of RIMSA 13, on April 23, 2003; and
a meeting on the occasion of RIMSA 14,
on April 20, 2005.
COPAIA’s main purpose
is to help improve food safety throughout
the entire food chain by sustaining
the political will of the countries
of the Region for adopting food safety
programs and promoting coordination
and integration with producers and consumers.
To this end, this high-level
commission, which consists of Ministers
of Health and of Agriculture and of
producers’ and consumers’ representatives
from the countries of the Americas,
operates along the following lines:
promotion of intersectoral coordination;
strengthening of food safety systems;
formulation of policies aimed at the
modernization of food sanitary inspection;
promotion of integrated systems for
vigilance of food-transmitted diseases;
establishment of strategic alliances
in the areas of education and public
information regarding food safety; and
promotion of the countries of the Region’s
participation in the Codex Alimentarius
work.
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