Hey guys,
I’m Sohail Khanifar and I’m the Vice-Chair of WTO. I’m supposed to make some sort of lame introduction right here so I guess i’ll give you guys some info about myself.
I don’t really know how to explain myself to you guys, but I guess I’m the sort of person that sleeps through fire alarms and has to be woken up by the firefighters that come through and check each of the rooms. Pretty embarrassing, huh? Its happened twice in the last semester! I discovered that I really don’t like ice cream that much while I was at berkeley. The idea of cold cream just doesn’t seem appealing to me. :-\ I’m in an eurodisco band and you can check us out at www.myspace.com/imnotreallyinaband . Hopefully, you’ll soon find out that I’m really not as lame as i read on text than I am in real life (even though that’s probably the case)
Since I’m introducing Food Safety, I found some pretty interesting sites you guys might want to check out.
This website addresses one of the crises that has been widely covered by the media in the last 5 years. Its pretty comprehensive: http://www.who.int/foodsafety/micro/avian/en/index1.html There are 3 more pages that you might want to check out.
In 2005, the food safety forums were set up for africa. Check out the website: http://www.foodsafetyforum.org/african/index.asp
Some topics you guys might want to look at food quality, preservation, contaminants, labeling (sounds too unimportant but actually really useful), and illnesses.
I will definitely update more regularly as we approach the conference. If you have any questions, and Ireally mean any, feel free to leave a comment or email me at skhanifar@berkeley.edu.
With much anticipation for an awesome committee,
Sohail Khanifar
P.S. I heard a rumor on the streets that the chairs are counting how many comments you make on the blog. I mean, come on, you could at least introduce yourself. 
February 29th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Hi Sohail, I’m Lindsay.
Thanks for that first article, it was really useful… long though… =]
I tried to check out your band… but your account got deleted or something.
Also with anticipation for an awesome committee,
-Lindsay
March 1st, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Hello Sohail
My name is Donya and my co’s name is Yara. We noticed that your name is very middle eastern. We’re looking forward to have a culturally familiar face in committee.
March 3rd, 2008 at 6:22 pm
hahaha
myspace.com/imnotreallyinaband
i get it.
nice one lindsay.
and if you’re reading this,
then
lol.
I have a question:
The Strategic Plan for Food Safety in Africa proposes a 9-point plan, to be included in “a comprehensive national strategy, based on the sharing of responsibilities between public authorities, industry, and consumers.”
Can I use those 9 points in my solutions? (without referencing the Africa Plan?)
Thanks.
March 4th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
I think that you guys should check out the Codex Allimentarius (Sorry about the spelling) that the FAO produced. That’s a real valuable document that my partner and I found useful for a possible addition to our agreement, assuming we talk about this issue of course
March 5th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Lindsaaaaay,
Check the URL again. I think your partner got it. =p
_______________________
Hey Donya and Yara,
I am actually of Iranian descent. One of the greatest things in MUN is cultural diversity! I’m also looking forward to meet you guys.
_____________
Hey Aj,
Yeah, you can use those in your solutions, but you’re going to have to reference the Africa Plan. You could say something like this: “the nation of (whatever) would like reference and reinforce the 9 point plan noted in the Strategic Plan for Food Safety in Africa. They were…” etc. Basically note somewhere in your speech where you got the idea.
_____________
Mathew,
That is a great website. I will be that on the main blog. Good job!
Anyway, good luck all! Hope to see you in 10 days.
Love,
Sohail
March 7th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Sohail:
Thanks for the reply… I guess I’ll be doing some referencing in the near future.
And Matthew:
of course we’ll talk about that issue… the Codex is the international standard everyone has been looking for!
And so far I can find no instances of bias or complaint with the guidelines since its inception in 1962.
In fact, one could even partly attribute the 800% increase in food trade since then to the Codex.
I don’t see how anyone could oppose it.
Any well thought out committee resolutions would do well to include recognizing it as the premier international standard as a main point.
March 9th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Hey everyone!
This is Megan and Elizabeth representing Canada. We are both super excited for BMUN and cannot wait to come up to Berkeley this weekend!
Sohail- thanks for the tips on the websites! they were really helpful. Especially the one from the WTO page concerning precautions that should be taken when handling animals.
We agree with China that the codex alimentarius has played a vital role in food safety and should be the foundation upon which this committee bases its standards on. Here is the website for anyone who wants to further check it out:
http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/index_en.jsp
Canada is looking forward to working with all of you soo