Short biography

Catherine Bessy is a Senior Food Safety Officer working for FAO, Food Systems and Food Safety Division. She leads the programme on policy advice and capacity development in food control, and has guided the work on the development of the FAO strategic priorities for food safety.
Engineer by training, specialized in food science and technology, she has 25 years of experience in FAO in positions of increasing responsibility in the area of food safety, including situation analysis, needs identification, conception of projects and provision of technical assistance to members to improve their regulatory capacities and their food control systems. In particular, she conceived, guided and coordinated the work leading to the publication on the FAO/WHO food control system assessment tool. Besides leading capacity development projects, she also coordinates the development of policy and technical guidance for Countries, helping them to better implement Codex Alimentarius standards, recommendations and guidelines. She also represents FAO at several Codex Alimentarius Committees. Prior to joining FAO in 1997, she has worked for the food industry as a food safety specialist, and for the International Committee of the Red Cross as a food security specialist advising on food safety and nutrition dimensions to be brought into the agricultural rehabilitation programmes.