South Korea has been elected to head an ad hoc task force of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CODEX), the United Nations body setting global guidelines on food products.
 
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said on Sunday that the decision for South Korea to chair the ad hoc task force on antimicrobial resistance took place in a CODEX general assembly meeting held in Rome, Italy last week.
 
For the next four years, South Korea will lead efforts in producing global guidelines regarding the reduction and prevention of the use of antimicrobial resistant microorganisms in environment, farm and fishery products, and food.
 
The CODEX is a joint intergovernmental body of the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization.
 
It plans to create global guidelines to monitor the use of antimicrobial resistant materials by 2020.
 
As the new chair, South Korea will host a meeting of the CODEX task force in the second half of next year.