COLEAD at the UNECE Working Party (WP7) in Geneva

COLEAD continues its active participation in the standards-related work on Quality Standards for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables.

In November 20-24, delegates representing the member states of WP7 reviewed and adopted a number of proposed standards that had been developed or revised by the four specialised sections during the year, covering

• Fresh fruit and vegetables
• Dried fruit and nuts
• Seed potatoes
• Meat

Round table on a sustainable and efficient food system

A highlight of this session was the Round Table on Sustainable Food System and Resource Efficiency. Discussions focused on advances in digitalisation, capacity building and the management of agricultural losses and food waste.

In this context, COLEAD (Denis Felicité Zulma) through the FFM+ programme, presented its recent achievements in these areas:

• The creation of a Job Descriptions Framework to promote agricultural careers.
• The ISO 21001 certification of its training system, which attests to the quality and impact of its training courses for professionals.
• The development of a training module dedicated to the development of training plans within companies.
• Organising thematic webinars highlighting the success stories of fresh and processed fruit and vegetable companies, in partnership with professional organisations in ACP and OECD countries.
• Addressing agricultural losses and exploring economic opportunities for their recovery.

Adoption of new standards

A number of important standards were adopted at the meeting:

• Sweet potato, which will be the subject of an OECD interpretative brochure.
• Dried rose hips, adopted as a recommendation for a period of one year.
• The interpretative brochure on cashew nuts.

Next step for dried mango

FAO has announced that the proposal to introduce a new nomenclature for dried mango has been accepted by the Nomenclature Review Committee of the Harmonised System of the World Customs Organisation (WCO). The review is scheduled for early 2025, with a likely entry into force in 2028.

Forthcoming meetings

• The Specialised Section on Fresh Fruit and Vegetables will meet in Geneva from 23 to 25 April 2025.
• The Working Group on Agricultural Quality Standards will meet in Geneva from 17 to 19 November 2025.

The final report of the session is available here.

© UNECE

This activity is supported by the Fit For Market Plus (FFM+) programme, implemented by COLEAD within the Framework of Development Cooperation between the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the European Union. This publication receives financial support from the European Union and the OACPS. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of COLEAD and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union or the OACPS.