Mr Bukar Tijani, Assistant Director General of FAO,
Mr Guilherme da Costa junior, Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission
Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues, friends,
Good morning, it’s such an honour to be here for this very important event.
The father of modern medicine, Hippocrates, once said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
Food is fundamental to human health. We need it to survive and thrive.
But it’s also a source of enjoyment and an expression of who we are – of culture and of faith. Food brings friends, families and communities together.
But tragically, food can also be a source of disease and death.
Unhealthy diets and unsafe food are among the top risk factors for the global burden of disease.
About 11 million people die every year due to excess consumption of salt, sugars and trans fats, and inadequate consumption of whole grains, vegetables and fruits.
An additional 8 million people die from obesity and maternal and child undernutrition, while foodborne disease is responsible for a further 420,000 deaths.
Altogether, unhealthy diets, unsafe food and malnutrition in all its forms account for about one third of all deaths globally.
Beyond those who die, unsafe food and unhealthy diets cause huge a huge burden of sickness, and steal hundreds of millions of years of healthy living.
The economic impacts in lost productivity, lost market, and health care costs are enormous.
All of these impacts are not due solely to consumer choice. The reality is that the global food environment does not foster healthy diets.
Our global food systems do not deliver the quality diets needed for health, although some governments are taking bold policy actions to reorient food systems to deliver safe and nutritious food.
Next year, we will be mid-way into the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition, which calls for coherent and innovative actions covering the entire food system, from farm to plate.
Trade and investment policies and agreements have a major influence on the food that ends up in shops, restaurants and our refrigerators.
So it’s critical that there is coherence between policies on trade, food and health.
For 56 years, the Codex Alimentarius Commission has played a vital role both in protecting the health of consumers, and in ensuring fair practices in the food trade.
Codex standards and guidelines have critical roles to play in ensuring people have healthy diets and safe food.
Today they are as important as ever in protecting people from unhealthy diets and contaminated food, and in supporting the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
All countries have a duty to ensure that Codex standards and guidelines are developed and updated to achieve these goals.
Last year, the World Health Assembly adopted WHO’s new General Programme of Work – our strategic plan for the next five years.
At its heart are the ambitious “triple billion” targets. By 2023, our aim is to see 1 billion more people benefiting from universal health coverage; 1 billion more people better protected from health emergencies; and 1 billion more people enjoying better health and well-being.
Food is relevant in all three targets.
Preventing foodborne disease and malnutrition is a key part of primary health care, which is the foundation of universal health coverage.
Responding to outbreaks of foodborne disease and nutrition emergencies is an important part of health security.
And creating a safe and healthy food environment is central to better health and well-being.
To make WHO an organization that is capable of achieving its aims, we are now undertaking a major transformation of the organization.
One key change is that we are creating a new science division, that will be led by the Chief Scientist, to ensure the advice we give the world is based on the best evidence and the most up-to-date science.
In that context, the international food standards produced by the Codex Alimentarius Commission are among the most important global public goods WHO produces, together with FAO.
As part of our transformation, I have also decided to consolidate our work on food safety and nutrition in a single department, to ensure a more coherent and synergistic approach. This is positioned under the new division of healthy populations, together with public health and environment, social determinants of health, and others.
Earlier this year I was honoured to speak at the first International Food Safety Conference in Addis Ababa, and at the International Forum on Food Safety and Trade, held here in Geneva.
I would like to hear from countries about what you expect WHO and FAO to do, to capitalize on the work started at these two meetings.
For this reason, WHO and FAO have decided to discuss specific follow-up actions at each of the six FAO/WHO Regional Coordinating Committees.
We’re looking forward to receiving your ideas and suggestions to further improve global food security and safety.
An important mechanism which allows the Codex Alimentarius Commission to do its work inclusively is the WHO/FAO Codex Trust Fund.
Thanks to our generous donors, the fund now supports 14 countries, and starting later this year, an additional 13 countries will receive support to build strong and sustainable national Codex systems.
Today I am pleased to announce that applications for Round 4 will open on the 15th of August. In this next round we intend to support stronger Codex capacity in a further eight countries.
I thank the donor countries for their support, and I would invite other countries to join this club of donors to make the Trust Fund safe and sustainable until the end of its 12-year life.
Now I leave you with three requests:
First, we urge all countries to adopt a whole-of-government approach that ensures coherence on policies relating to food, trade and health.
Second, we invite all countries to give us your ideas on how to turn strong political momentum from the food safety meetings in Addis Ababa in Geneva into concrete action.
And third, I call on more countries to invest in the WHO/FAO Codex Trust Fund, as an investment in a healthier, safer, fairer world for everyone.
Finally, I would like to use this opportunity to thank and appreciate Mr José Graziano da Silva, the outgoing Director-General of FAO for his commitment and leadership. He is part of this community, and I know that he will continue to be part of it. I appreciate him for his great leadership.
Thank you and obrigado.