JCCU acknowledges that international food standards have a direct impact on the members of consumer co-operatives and producer cooperatives and for that reason has been sending representatives on behalf of ICA Committee on Consumer Cooperation to participate in meetings of the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission and its subsidiary bodies since the middle of 1990’s when ICA was accorded Observer status by Codex.

ONITAKE Kazuo, Manager of Safety Policy Promotion Department of JCCU, attended a session of Codex Alimentarius Commission held at the FAO Headquarters in June, 2016 under the agenda items: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

After the session ONITAKE had a meeting with Mr. Castaneda Rodrigo, Chief of Partnership Unit of FAO to explore the possible entry points for collaboration between FAO and JCCU since JCCU has been playing a major role in the area of food safety and food quality including food labeling in Japan by responding to member consumers demands.

During the discussion some of the areas of work of FAO on food safety which are of relevance to JCCU were highlighted and Mr. Castaneda mentioned that he would appreciate inputs from JCCU as a consumer organization to get a realistic picture of how foods were used/consumed.

Another area of potential collaboration with JCCU, he said, was the work of FAO related to food loss and waste (FLW), which occurs due to many poorly functioning food systems. He expressed interest in learning from the system of JCCU regarding how to empower consumers to demand healthy food environment and food systems that influence consumers’ diets and nutritional status.

Another area of work that he said might benefit the joint collaboration with JCCU, is the implementation of the Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CFS-RAI).

Taken turns, ONITAKE on behalf of JCCU expressed an interest in seeking further information sharing sessions to learn more about FAO’s work to identify specific entry points for collaboration. Some of the potential areas Mr. Onitake mentioned include:

・Quinoa promotion with JCCU product line;

・Date Marking related activities;

・Food labeling and food safety – hygiene guidelines and scientific advice on people’s management practices;

・Business model of Sanchoku for south-south cooperation

・Model of direct purchase by consumers from producers (Data related).