Chronicle of the Codex Alimentarius events

A virtual meeting of Joint Electronic Working Group (EWG) of Codex Alimentarius Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) and Codex Alimentarius Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) on dual-use compounds was held on 28 - 29 April 2026. Main objective of this working group is to harmonize of maximum residues levels (MRL) of compounds used as pesticides and veterinary drugs.

More than 200 specialists of animal and plant health from different countries took part in the work of virtual meeting. The Republic of Kazakhstan was represented by Ansabayeva Leila - Head of the Department of Veterinary Control and Circulation of Veterinary Medicinal Products of the Committee for Veterinary Control and Surveillance of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Sharipov Zeinulla – International cooperation specialist of National Centre of Expertise of the Committee for Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

As a result of the meeting, working group agreed a pragmatic approach («fit-for-purpose») to establishing harmonized MRLs for dual-use compounds. This pragmatic approach, based on the using of existing risk assessment data and the adoption of higher MRL, was applied for five compounds: cyfluthrin, deltamethrin, permethrin, thiabendazole and abamectin.

Recommendations were also developed on the terms and definitions for muscles, edible offals, fat, eggs, milk, skin with fat were.

The outcomes of the virtual meeting of the Joint EWG will be used to develop recommendations for consideration at the 49th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (6-10 July 2026) and the joint session of CCPR and CCRVDF in early 2027.

In the framework of the Memorandum for Cooperation between the National Center for Expertise of the CSEC of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the NAO Astana Medical University No. 19-D-40 dated May 27, 2025, from April 13 to April 16, 2026, the Department of Strategic Development and International Cooperation held a seminar on food safety.

The seminar audience included 3rd year students and teachers of the MUA "Astana", and scientists of the Research Institute of Preventive Medicine named after Academician E.D.Dalenov.

At the beginning of the seminar, Z.B. Kitarova made a presentation on the National Center of Expertise, its mission, structure, human resources and intellectual potential.

Director of the Research Institute, PhD, Professor A.Abduldayeva expressed her willingness to jointly develop and implement projects in various areas of public health.

DMS, Professor Karsybekova N.M. presented reports on the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, "Medical aspects of food borne AMR ", "New food sources and food systems".

CMS Tolysbaeva Zh.T. presented the reports "Contaminants in food and feed. Criteria of the Codex Alimentarius for establishing the minimum concentration of contaminants in food and feed", "Medical aspects of trans fat consumption. Technical regulation", "How to conduct situational nutrition analysis"

Sharipov Z.F. presented the reports "Emergency response system in food safety in the world and the Republic of Kazakhstan.", "Codex Alimentarius on the use of antibiotics", "From farm to table: chemical risk management in crop production", "Why the use of veterinary drugs is an issue of food safety"

Kitarova Z.B. and Dzhusieva Zh.T. shared their knowledge and practical experience in terms of prerequisite programs and the implementation of HACCP principles.

It should be noted that the audience expressed interest in the information provided and the seminar was held in an atmosphere of relaxed interactive communication.

The Director of the Research Institute, Professor A.Abduldayeva expressed the wish to hold such seminars on a regular basis in the future.

Codex Alimentarius diaries with QR codes for Codex Alimentarius standards for combating food-borne antimicrobial resistance were donated to the Academician E.D.Dalenov Research Institute of Preventive Medicine.

The 28th Session of the Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs (hereinafter -  CCRVDF’28) in Foods was held from 23 to 27 March 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America.

The Republic of Kazakhstan was represented at CCRVDF28 by Ansabayeva Leila - Head of the Department of Veterinary Control and Circulation of Veterinary Medicinal Products of the Committee for Veterinary Control and Surveillance of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Sharipov Zeinulla – International cooperation specialist of National Centre of Expertise of the Committee for Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter – NCE), Berdybek Miras - Head of the Unit of Sanitary and Epidemiological and Laboratory Analytics of the branch of the NCE for the Atyrau Region.

The Committee discussed draft Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for veterinary drugs in food, including those established through extrapolation. For instance, extrapolated MRLs for tetracyclines and cypermethrins were reviewed.

Furthermore, CCRVDF28 advanced the extrapolated MRLs for tetracyclines and ivermectin in camelid tissues to the next step of the adoption process.

To ensure comprehensive and integrated approach to the development of Criteria for the extrapolation of maximum residue limits to edible offal tissues other than kidney and liver Committee agreed to conduct an experimental study on tetracyclines, ceftiofur, and ivermectin.

CCRVDF’28 refined and advanced to the Commission for the final adoption Guidelines on recommended risk based actions to address the detection of residues of a veterinary drug in food caused by unavoidable and unintentional carryover of veterinary drugs in animal feed where there is no applicable codex MRL

April 01-02, 2026. The Codex Alimentarius National Structure has conducted for the third time a two-day training seminar "Codex Alimentarius. Profile Committees of the Codex Documents " for branches that were unable to participate in the first half of February.

The seminar audience included specialists from the sanitary and hygienic and bacteriological laboratories of the branches of the National Center for Expertise.

The seminar was attended by 24 specialists from the Company's branches in Akmola, West-Kazakhstan, Zhambyl, Zhetysu regions.

Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Karsybekova N.M. presented an overview of the role and tasks of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the algorithm of work on the Codex website, with the Codex documents., work within the Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling.

Codex contact person, Candidate of Medical Sciences Tolysbaeva Zh.T. presented the main functions of the codex contact person for timely and effective coordination of codex issues, the algorithm of work within the Codex Committees on impurities, as well as nutrition and special dietary products.

INFOSAN and RASFF Coordinator Sharipov Z.F. presented to the audience the main areas of work of the Codex Committees on residues of veterinary medicines in food products, as well as pesticides.

The presentations provoked a lively response from the audience. There was an active discussion on key issues. The speakers provided comprehensive answers to all the questions of the participants. The seminar participants expressed the need to hold such seminars on a regular basis. Presentations presented at the seminar have been sent to all interested participants.

Summing up, a total of 92 specialists from all branches of the Enterprise took part in the seminars.

From March 23 to March 27 this year, the international seminar was held, arranged by the Federal Agency for Consumer Protection and Food Safety of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The seminar was attended by representatives from almost all regions of the globe – Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

Experts with global experience in food safety from Germany, Sweden, Austria, and Iceland were invited as speakers. Kazakhstan was represented by the National Coordinator for Codex Alimentarius, DMS, Professor N.M. Karsybekova.

The seminar included presentations on the legal and institutional bases of food safety in Germany and Europe. In the light of current trends, the presentation on the prospects of using artificial intelligence in food control aroused interest. An active discussion was sparked by a presentation on the role of laboratories in conducting control - network, functions, cooperation, as well as risk management during official control: inspections, audits, risk classification in food enterprises, assessment of the HACCP system.

In modern conditions, when e-commerce has acquired a large scale and has become an integral part of the retail market in most countries of the world, information on the work of the e-commerce control structure in Germany has aroused great interest.

The participants had a lively discussion about the principles of control when food products pass through the country's borders.

It should be noted that the seminar was held in an interactive format based on the question-answer principle, which allowed us to receive feedback on the presented material.

 At the end of the seminar, the participants completed a questionnaire to evaluate the effectiveness of the seminar with a list of potential topics for the future seminar in 2027.

All participants who complete the full course are awarded a certificate of participation.

On March 16, 2026, an online preliminary session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Europe of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CCEURO) was held under the leadership of the German Regional Coordinator. At this session, the agenda items of the upcoming 28th session of the Codex Committee on Veterinary Drug Residues in Food (CCRVDF) were considered. The meeting was attended by 29 representatives from the EU, Norway, Great Britain and Kazakhstan.

Particular attention was paid to the issue of insufficient data for the work of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) in establishing the maximum residues levels (MRL) for fumagillin dicyclohexylamine (DHG) in fish (fillets) and honey. The participants noted that more scientific information would be needed to complete the JECFA work.

The possibility of extrapolating the MRL of the entire tetracycline group for camelids was also discussed. The need to comply with the requirements of the Codex Alimentarius procedural manual and include this group of veterinary drugs in the JECFA priority review list was emphasized.

On March 26, 2026, the WHO European Office held a webinar titled "Health Security Planning. Strengthening Health Security Planning through a One Health Approach." Eighty-four representatives from 53 Member States of the European Region participated in the webinar.

The webinar was opened by Simona Seravesi, Head of Department at the WHO European Office and Coordinator of the One Health Approach.

The first presentation was given by Dr. Professor Tony Holohan, Ireland. He provided a detailed analysis of lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of the One Health approach not only in terms of drug treatment origin but also in terms of food safety and zoonotic infections.

Zoonotic disease management approaches were described, and external assessment tools were analyzed by Peter Hoejskov, technical expert on food safety at the WHO European Office.

Professor Bino Silvia's presentation on the experience of implementing the One Health approach in Albania was very helpful and illustrative.

Dr. Joanel Salvi le Ganrec presented a presentation describing a genomic financial instrument that includes all cost items related to genomic sequencing.

Of particular interest was the presentation by Gulmira Kalmambetova, Deputy Director of the National Tuberculosis Center of the Kyrgyz Republic. She presented the country's successful experience in implementing next-generation sequencing.

The webinar concluded with a question-and-answer session, during which all presenters answered questions from webinar participants.

This workshop is part of a series of workshops organized and conducted by the WHO European Regional Office. The next webinar is scheduled for May 13, 2026.

March, 13,2026. A report on the activities of the Codex Alimentarius Group for the first quarter (January-March) of 2026 was made by Doctor of Medicine, Professor Karsybekova N.M. The members of the ISCCA were informed about the work of the Codex Alimentarius Group with the Committee for Sanitary and Epidemiological Control of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, about the Codex committees, as part of the work of the National Center for Expertise, and also about meetings and events held in recent years. the past reported period.

Then Council Secretary Tolysbaeva Zh.T. has reported on the Action Plan of the National Codex Alimentarius for 2026.

 Coordinator for INFOSAN and RASFF Sharipov Z.F. reported on the circular letters within the Committee for residues of veterinary drugs in food and joint Electronic Working Group on CCRVDF /CCPR, and notifications regarding RASFF и INFOSAN

National Coordinator for Codex Alimentarius, DMS, Professor Karsybekova N.M. reported Power Point Presentation “ New Food resources and food producing systems”. Presentation was raised an interest among the participants.

ISCCA Chair Sadubayeva A.N., Head of the Department for Monitoring Compliance with the Requirements of the Technical Regulations of the CSEC of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, informed that the issue of the production and sale of flour from crickets as a food product for the population was considered at the EEC level. Currently, research is underway in Russia to assess the risk for this product.

The ISCCA members adopted and approved the Report for the 1st quarter of 2026, and adopted a Work Plan for 2026. It was decided to hold an online meeting with stakeholders in April this year to discuss celebration of the World Food Safety Day in June this year.

February 26-27, 2026. The Codex Alimentarius National Structure has repeatedly conducted a two-day training seminar "Codex Alimentarius. Profile Committees of the Codex Documents " for branches that were unable to participate in the first half of February.

The seminar audience included specialists from the sanitary and hygienic and bacteriological laboratories of the branches of the National Center for Expertise.

The seminar was attended by 24 specialists from the Company's branches in Astana and Shymkent, Mangystau, Pavlodar, Turkestan, Aktobe regions.

Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Karsybekova N.M. presented an overview of the role and tasks of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the algorithm of work on the Codex website, with the Codex documents., work within the Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling.

Codex contact person, Candidate of Medical Sciences Tolysbaeva Zh.T. presented the main functions of the codex contact person for timely and effective coordination of codex issues, the algorithm of work within the Codex Committees on impurities, as well as nutrition and special dietary products.

 INFOSAN and RASFF Coordinator Sharipov Z.F. presented to the audience the main areas of work of the Codex Committees on residues of veterinary medicines in food products, as well as pesticides.

The presentations provoked a lively response from the audience. There was an active discussion on key issues. The speakers provided comprehensive answers to all the questions of the participants. The seminar participants expressed the need to hold such seminars on a regular basis. Presentations presented at the seminar have been sent to all interested participants.

The Codex Alimentarius National Structure held a two-days training seminar "Codex Alimentarius. Relevant committees. Codex Documents" The seminar audience included specialists from sanitary and hygienic laboratories of the branches of the National Center for Expertise, and interested departments of the Enterprise.

The seminar was attended by 44 specialists from Abai, Almaty, Atyrau, East Kazakhstan, Karaganda, Kostanay, Kyzylorda, North Kazakhstan regions, and interested departments of the Enterprise.

Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Karsybekova N.M. presented an overview of the role and tasks of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the algorithm of work on the Codex website, with the Codex documents., work within the Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling.

Codex contact person, Candidate of Medical Sciences Tolysbaeva Zh.T. presented the main functions of the codex contact person for timely and effective coordination of codex issues, the algorithm of work within the Codex Committees on impurities, as well as nutrition and special dietary products.

 INFOSAN and RASFF Coordinator Sharipov Z.F. presented to the audience the main areas of work of the Codex Committees on residues of veterinary medicines in food products, as well as pesticides.

The presentations provoked a lively response from the audience. There was an active discussion on key issues. The speakers provided comprehensive answers to all the questions of the participants. The seminar participants expressed the need to hold such seminars on a regular basis. Presentations presented at the seminar have been sent to all interested participants.

On February 11, 2026, an online meeting of the working group on the development of Nutrition Guidelines was held within the framework of the FAO/WHO Coordination Committee for the European Region of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The meeting was attended by the European Offices of FAO, WHO, the Chairman of the Working Group – the Federal Republic of Germany, co-Chairs – Kazakhstan, Turkey, Spain.

The draft recommendations on nutrition were discussed, as well as a report dedicated to the 34th session of the FAO/WHO Coordination Committee for the European Region of the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

The participants provided comments on the draft recommendations and the report.

Kazakhstan also made additions to the recommendations, and also offered to conduct an online webinar for the post-Soviet countries on the methodology - FSBDG – food systems based on dietary guidelines – nutrition guidelines based on food systems.

The WHO and FAO regional offices have also made additions to the recommendations sections.

The Chairman of the working group, Michael Kilb (Germany), explained that after making all the additions, the final version of the recommendations, as well as the draft report, would be presented to all members of the working group.

The next meeting of the working group will be held in accordance with the previously formed schedule of events.

On February 6 of this year, a discussion of circular letters issued by the Secretariat of the Codex Alimentarius Commission CL 2025/47–PR/RVDF "Request for comments on the harmonization of descriptions for animal products used by CCPR and CCRVDF" and CL 2025/48-PR/RVDF took place on the basis of the RSE "National Center of Expertise" CSES of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter -NCE). "Request for comments on the harmonization of maximum residue limit values (MRLs) for dual-use compounds established by the Codex.

"The discussion was arranged by the Scientific Management and International Cooperation Sector of the Department of Strategic Development and International Cooperation of the NCE – Dr of Medical Sciences, Prof. Karsybekova Nailya and Sharipov Zeynulla with the participation of more than 10 national experts from the Committee for Veterinary Control and Surveillance  of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, NCE "Atameken", Kostanay Regional University named after A.Baitursynov, Kazakh National University named after Al-Farabi, branches of the NCE in the Zhetisu region and Atyrau region , the Association "Fat and Oil Union of Kazakhstan", Scientific and Production Enterprise "Antigen" LLP, etc.

During the discussion, issues related to the harmonization of descriptions for animal products used by both the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CCPR) and the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Medicinal Products in Foodstuffs of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CCRVDF) were considered. This work is carried out to ensure coordination between the above-mentioned committees and the use of unified terminology. The terms fat, fillet, muscle tissue, muscle tissue with skin in natural proportions caused a particularly heated discussion due to the need to take into account their use in the Republic of Kazakhstan and in the EAEU space.

Due to the fact that the discussion of CL 2025/47-PR/RVDF took longer than planned, the meeting participants decided to postpone consideration of CL 2025/48-PR/RVDF after February 16 this year.

A seminar on food safety based on international HACCP practices was held at the RSE on PCV “Center for Sanitary and Epidemiological Expertise” of the Medical Center of the Presidential Management Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan on January 23, 2026. The participants of the seminar were representatives of the State Security Service.

One of the speakers at this seminar was Zeinulla Sharipov, specialist of RSE on PCV “National Centre of Expertise” of the Committee for Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Kazakhstan. He serves as the The International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) Emergency Contact Point in the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as Single Contact Point of The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) Window in Kazakhstan. He delivered a presentation on “Emergency Response System for the food safety in the World and the Republic of Kazakhstan”.

During presentation, the overview of general interaction framework of authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan in cases of emergencies related to food safety threats was presented. Aspects of functioning and communication with INFOSAN aimed to notify about relevant incidents were discussed. The RASFF, as a strong example of a response system for unsafe food on the market, was provided. Examples of cooperation between the Republic of Kazakhstan and INFOSAN and RASFF following received notifications were reviewed.

On February 3, 2026, the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), WHO Regional Office for Africa (AFRO), and WHO Regional Office for Europe (EURO) jointly held a webinar to address the Food Safety Alliance information request on data availability and data-sharing mechanisms. The webinar was attended by INFOSAN contact points, with over 90 participants from various countries. Dr, Prof Nailya Karsybekova and Zeinulla Sharipov represented Kazakhstan as INFOSAN contact points.

The webinar presented the work of the WHO Alliance for Food Safety (hereinafter - WHO Alliance). The WHO Alliance is a network of WHO Collaborating Centres established to collaborate, share knowledge, and coordinate efforts on matters related to the implementation of the WHO Global Food Safety Strategy 2022-2030.

As one of the key stages in the successful implementation of the WHO Global Strategy, the webinar discussed the Survey of Landscape Analysis Survey: FBD and Food Contamination Data Availability & Data-Sharing Mechanisms. Interim results of completed survey submissions were presented. Given the importance of global efforts to ensure food safety, the WHO Alliance emphasized the need for countries that have not yet submitted completed survey. For this purpose, the deadline for survey submission was extended from January to March 2026. Kazakhstan submitted its completed survey in November 2025.

The World Health Organization, jointly with the “Auyl” party, organized and held a Round table "Food safety and zoonosis prevention in rural areas of Kazakhstan: joint actions based on the "Unified Health" approach" with the participation of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Ecology of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kazakhstan Veterinary Congress, the Farmers Association of Akmola region, the European WHO Office, FAO Country Office, WHO Sub-regional Office in Central Asia.

The National Coordinator for Codex Alimentarius DMS, Professor N.M. Karsybekova, made a presentation on AMP of food genesis, the role of international organizations, including Codex Alimentarius. Proposals have been formulated for a Roadmap of actions to combat foodborne AMR, and potential initiatives with the participation of WHO and the "Auyl" party have been agreed. New partnerships have been established between government, academic, and private structures.

November 11, 2025. A fascinating discussion took place on the second day of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (hereinafter - Commission) session. Among the proposals for new standard development presented to Commission delegates, the development of a standard for pasteurized camel milk was the most hotly discussed. It is noteworthy that at the preliminary stage, this standard, initiated by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was supposed to be regional (Near East), but the country-members of the European region (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, etc.), Africa (Kenya, Mauritania, Chad, etc.) also produce and export camel milk. In this regard, the standard has acquired the international status.

The Kazakhstan delegation held a number of working meetings with the UAE delegation, where they discussed technical issues, Professor Konuspayeva G. provided expert clarifications on some points of the work.

After the presentation the draft standard at the CAC session by the United Arab Emirates, the delegation of the United States took the floor, expressing concerns related to the existing Standard for Milk Powder and Cream Powder (CXS 207-1999), it is planned to develop an independent standard for a separate type of milk. The countries as Uruguay, Cuba, and Paraguay also expressed doubts about the proposal.

The head of the Kazakh delegation, Chairman of the Board of the RSE at the National Center for Expertise of the CSEC of the MoH RK, Kiyassov E., confirmed Kazakhstan's strong support for advancing new work on the Codex standard for pasteurized camel milk. The countries of the African continent, the Near East, Asia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Georgia also supported the work.

Thus, the Commission will reflect in the CAC’48 report on the start of the above-mentioned standard within the Codex Committee on Milk and Milk Products (CCMMP, The New Zealand). The electronic working group  will be established in a working way.

By the invitation of the Center for Sanitary and Epidemiological Expertise of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor N.M. Karsybekova took part as a speaker in the round of seminars "International Aspects and Ensuring Food Safety" on June 8, 30, and July 3, 2025, at the Shin-Line enterprise.

The seminar was attended by representatives of the departments of sanitary and epidemiological control, branches of the National Center of Expertise - centers of sanitary and epidemiological expertise of Almaty, Almaty and Zhambyl regions, food producers, catering establishments, specialized universities, international experts on food falsification (Ireland), officer of the WHO country office B. Aubakirova, National coordinator of the Codex Alimentarius N.M. Karsybekova.

Professor Karsybekova N.M. presented the report "Codex Alimentarius. Experience of Kazakhstan". Replied questions from participants on food safety, import and export of food products, codex procedures.

Took part in a tour of the Shin-Line enterprise.

June 27, 2025, the National Structure of the Codex Alimentarius prepared and arranged an International Roundtable on World Food Safety Day in an online mode. The theme of World Food Safety Day is “Science in Action”.

The work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, with support from FAO and WHO, promotes the coordination of scientific research on food problems, and the Commission itself has become an important international platform for the exchange of scientific information in this field.

For many years, four expert bodies: JECFA, JMPR, JEMRA, JEMNU carry out safety assessments based on the best available scientific information, collected by consolidating contributions from many authoritative sources, and issue publications that are regarded as international reference documents.

The Chairman of the Committee for Sanitary and Epidemiological Control, Chief State Sanitary Doctor of the Ministry of Health Sarkhat Beisenova, representative of the Committee for Veterinary Control and Supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture Saltanat Abylkasymova, the Vice-Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission Dr. Bitul Vazgecer, representatives of FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, WHO Country Office, OIE Subregional Office for Central Asia virtually took part in the opening ceremony of the International Round Table.

The Round Table was online attended by representatives of the Eurasian Economic Commission, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, representatives of interested ministries and departments, laboratory sanitary and veterinary expertise, academia, universities and international organizations. The participants discussed various aspects of food safety, the importance of an intersectoral approach in addressing key issues, the role of science in strengthening food safety, the importance of Codex Alimentarius documents in ensuring food safety, protecting consumer health and promoting fair trade practices.

Following the Round table, a Resolution was adopted in which the participants noted the special significance of World Food Safety Day in a time of global challenges, the importance of ensuring sustainable interaction in food safety of all participants in the food system on the principles of the One Health approach in order to protect the health of consumers and fair trade. In addition, the need to implement the best world practices in ensuring food safety in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the need to strengthen the role of science, risk assessment and education in ensuring the safety and quality of food products, the importance of raising consumer awareness of their rights to safe and high-quality food products was emphasized.

April 23, 2025, the Round table was held on the topic "School meals: implementation of the standard in educational organizations", arranged by the Ministry of Healthcare of RK jointly with the Ministry of Education of RK, and the Kazakh Academy of Nutrition with of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) country office support.

The heads of the regional departments of healthcare and education of the republic, relevant structures, experts from international organizations as WHO and FAO were invited to the Round table.

Minister of Healthcare of the Republic of Kazakhstan Akmaral Alnazarova, Minister of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan Gani Beisembayev, President of the Kazakh Academy of Nutrition Almaz Sharman, Deputy Representative of UNICEF in the Republic of Kazakhstan Letizia Bazzi-Vale delivered welcoming speeches.

The Codex Alimentarius National Structure was also invited to the Round Table as experts participating in the FAO project “Contribution to development and further scaling up of healthy nutrition”. As known, the basis of food safety is the scientifically stipulated standards of the Codex. Codex Alimentarius experts provide advice on healthy eating and food safety, which is an integral part of school meals.

February 17-21, 2025, The Codex Alimentarius Group completed an online international training on food safety with the technical support of the German Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food. The main objective of the training was to provide up-to-date information on residues of veterinary drugs in food, antibacterial resistance and zoonoses management.

The seminar was attended by over 300 participants from countries in the regions of Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.

Renowned scientists and experts in their fields from the European Union, the USA, Canada, Australia, WHO and FAO headquarters were invited as lecturers.

Topics covered included risk management in the use of veterinary drugs, challenges in laboratory expertise, antimicrobial use in the EU: challenges, goals, priorities, Codex Alimentarius standards for combating AMR, intersectoral collaboration as the basis of the One Health approach, monitoring zoonoses and AMR in the food chain, managing food poisoning outbreaks and many others.

The international training was held at a high level. Participants had the opportunity to receive immediate feedback within the framework of the "Questions and Answers" section.

Karsybekova N.M., Tolysbaeva Zh.T. were awarded the ITS FOOD 2025 Certificate of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food of Germany (President Friedel Kramer).

We look forward to the next international training on food safety in 2026.