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World Food Safety Day / Shifting from burden to solutions in tackling AMR
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Friday, 12 June, 2026, 12 : 00 PM [IST]
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The Republic of Korea
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FAO hosted a high-level hybrid event titled ‘From standards to solutions: advancing a One Health approach through implementation of Codex AMR texts to reduce foodborne antimicrobial resistance’. Held on the sidelines of FAO Council week and in honour of World Food Safety Day, the event explored how Codex texts can provide solutions to the global burden of foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In discussing the successes of the FAO-implemented and Republic of Korea-funded Action to support implementation of Codex AMR texts (ACT) project, participants also looked at how these achievements can be sustained to inform future One Health actions.
Opening the event, the FAO director-general QU Dongyu welcomed the Korean Ambassador, Kim Choon-goo, and other high-level guests. He explained that the World Health Organization (WHO) has released its most recent estimates of the global burden of foodborne disease. “The news is good!” he reported. “Fewer people are getting sick from unsafe food.” The director-general went on to recall that when working in his home country of China, it was the high standards of safety demanded by Japan – a market China was then hoping to access – that led his colleagues working in food safety to improve their standards. “We had good examples in our neighbours, the demand for higher quality forces you to change” he said. The director-general then went on to note that the WHO data are “a clear demonstration that investing in food safety works, but it also reminds us that there is still much to be done.” He made the point that Codex standards, when implemented, represent a cornerstone of efforts to provide solutions to foodborne disease.
Ambassador Kim Choon-goo then gave the opening remarks, in which he noted that “Korea’s enduring partnership with FAO dates back to 1949.” That partnership, he went on, has been marked by “strategic financial contributions” to FAO’s work on food safety through support to “concrete cooperation projects designed to strengthen national capacities, promote science-based standards, and help countries translate global guidance into tangible, on-the-ground solutions.” The Ambassador also noted the Republic of Korea’s strong commitment to the Codex Alimentarius: “Korea has also been a staunch supporter of the Codex Alimentarius and the implementation of science-based international food standards. We firmly believe that Codex standards play a vital role in protecting consumers, ensuring fair practices in food trade and providing a unified foundation for collective action,” he said.
The event was divided into two panel discussions, the first on ACT Project experiences and successes in tackling foodborne AMR and the second, in recognition of the need for investment and global leadership in efforts to tackle AMR, was on the way forward. Codex Secretary, Sarah Cahill, moderated the first discussion, which heard from Corinna Hawkes, Director of FAO’s Agrifood systems and Food Safety Division (ESF), Delgerjargal Ganbold, First Secretary, Embassy of Mongolia, Carolina Tejerina Vertiz, Specialist in Surveillance and Control of Contaminants, Food Safety, of the National Agricultural Health and Food Safety Service of the Plurinational State of Bolivia SENASAG, who joined virtually, and Junxia Song, Chief of One Health and Disease Control, Animal Production and Health Division (NSA).
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