BELGIUM – Mexico, the 16th largest producer of milk in the world, has joined the International Dairy Federation(IDF), bolstering the federation’s members and expanding its global reach and influence. 

Based in Brussels, Belgium,  IDF is a recognised international authority in the development of science-based standards for the dairy sector. 

The body plays an important role in ensuring the right policies, standards, practices and regulations are in place to ensure the world’s dairy products are safe and sustainable. 

In a statement, IDF said that as a member of the federation, Mexico will benefit from being part of a dynamic network of leading dairy experts whose aim is to support and develop the global dairy sector. 

“I am deeply delighted to be collaborating with our new member on important dairy related issues and opportunities facing the global sector,” said IDF director general Caroline Emond. 

“Having Mexico as a member of the IDF community is an asset to us, and we cannot wait to work with them.” 

Piercristiano Brazzale, president of the IDF, added: “Mexico’s expertise and perspective will not only be valuable to the global dairy sector, but having this new country at the table alongside our broad members is incredibly important adding even more strength to our global voice, knowledge and expertise.” 

Meanwhile, the IDF has published its latest overview of the dairy sector, covering markets worldwide, global trends and preliminary COVID-19 impacts.  

According to the federation, the report contains information about the international dairy sector – including data tables, graphs, country reports and analyses for more than 50 dairy-producing countries from all five continents. 

Dairy champions honoured 

Recently, the IDF honored dairy champions for their leadership, dedication, and commitment to the sector at the IDF Global Dairy Conference. 

Erica Hocking, a Senior Nutrition Scientist for Dairy UK, and the Deputy Chair of the IDF Standing Committee on Nutrition & Health, was the winner of the award for Prize of Excellence, for her outstanding work with IDF in the last years. 

 She was an active member of the Action Team who collected information on School Milk Programmes around the world, and collated data, and produced analysis for the IDF School Milk Bulletin.   

The second award was for the Standing Committee Leader Recognition, handed over to Philippe Trossat, from France.

Philippe is the Director of analytical activities for milk and milk products of ACTALIA, centre of expertise for food.  

He just completed his 3rd term (in total 6 years) as chair the IDF Standing Committee on Analytical Methods for Composition.   

Finally, the last award was presented to France with the prestigious annual Yves Boutonnat IMP (International Milk Promotion) Trophy award, for its #Fromagissons initiative.  

IDF said that the award was particularly noteworthy given the challenging time the dairy sector has worked through.   

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