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World Food Day 2008 addresses what has been categorised
by many as one of the greatest challenges of our time - climate
change and its impact on food security.
ISO has here an important contribution to make - not only
through its numerous International Standards on food related
issues, but also through standards that help quantify and
mitigate climate change.
World Food Day is organised by the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Commission (FAO) each year on the 16 October.
The event provides an opportunity to highlight the plight
of the 862 million undernourished people in the world - a
number that FAO warns could be pushed even higher if the threat
of global warming and the consequences of a rising demand
for bioenergy are not addressed.
ISO’s portfolio of environmental standards provides practical
tools for addressing these issues. Among these are -
- ISO 14001 - which has become the global benchmark for
environmental management systems
- ISO 14064 - which gives the requirements for quantifying,
monitoring and reporting on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
- and
- ISO 14065 - which specifies accreditation requirements
for organisations validating or verifying GHG emission assertions.
ISO Secretary-General Alan Bryden comments - “Climate change
mitigation, energy efficiency, water supply and food security
are inter-related challenges - all of which ISO addresses
through its existing standards and current developments.”
Issues directly related to food are mainly addressed through
ISO/TC 34 - the ISO technical committee developing standards
on food products. The committee currently offers 725 standards
and related documents. Its work covers practically all agricultural
products for human consumption and animal feeding stuffs -
ranging from fruits to cereals to poultry and coffee, to name
a few.
About 65% of its standards concern testing and analytical
methods and are directly targeted at agricultural producers,
food manufacturers, laboratories, merchants/retailers, consumers
and regulators.
Among ISO developments of recent years relating to the concerns
of World Food Day are the following -
- a new subcommittee of ISO/TC 34 to develop standards on
the topical subject of biomarkers
- the ISO 22000 series of standards for safe food supply
chains, already implemented by an estimated 4,000 organisations
in 93 countries at the end of 2007
- standards for the detection of genetically modified organisms
and derived products in food
- guidelines for quantitative ingredient declarations to
help consumers know what they are eating
- waste reduction by biotechnological methods and enhancement
of the conversion of waste materials for the manufacturing
of new added value products.
Fifty-four countries participate in the work of ISO/TC 34
and another 53 have observer status. Representatives from
these countries came together on 16-17 October, 2008 for a
plenary meeting in Paris. The event provided an opportunity
to discuss current projects and propose new areas of work,
as well as to address organisational and administrative issues.
Other ISO committees develop standards that can contribute
to the goals of World Food Day - including ISO/TC 234, a recently
formed committee developing standards for sustainable fishing
and aquaculture.
ISO has a strong partnership with many United Nations agencies
concerned with food issues. They participate as liaison organisations
in a number of ISO committees - among them are the World Health
Organization (WHO), FAO and the Codex Alimentarius Commission
(CAC).
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