Riyadh, January 20, 2020, SPA -- The heads of the food control bodies agreed here today, at the conclusion of their first meeting, the importance of developing a sustainable environment for food legislative cooperation to deal with emerging risks related to the food safety and nutrition. The legislators, representing 12 governmental and international organizations, agreed on a preliminary agenda for the cooperation plan that includes working towards developing methods for evaluating new ingredients in food, focusing on the optimal use of resources through implementing inspection programs that are based on risk assessment, in addition to participating in cooperative initiatives to deal with challenges in risk and benefit communications, and spreading wrong information related to food and its production methods. The plan also includes providing continuous support to the Codex Alimentarius Commission through uniting efforts and joint action, which supports the convergence of food legislation internationally, and keeps pace with technical development in the field of food legislative sciences around the world. --SPA 17:35 LOCAL TIME 14:35 GMT 0018 www.spa.gov.sa/w1249995