 Greg, thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us. Do you remember the first time you heard the word Codex? Yeah, the first time I heard about Codex was probably about a year or two after I started the Food and Drug Administration. My second-line supervisor at the time, Greg Diachenko, was the U.S. Delegate and was looking for some help. And we all sort of sat around as chemists who liked to work in the lab and thought, do we really want to do this? But then I reached out to Greg and said, I think it'd be interesting. I think I'll learn a few things, so maybe I'll take it on. So that was probably 2003 or 2004. And how did you get more involved? I think the first time I read a document, I had no idea what I was looking at. And it was actually about methods, and I still had no idea what I was looking at. So for the first year or two, I actually just helped him from the U.S. preparing for the meeting. And then I became part of the U.S. delegation, along with some colleagues from USDA. And then as time went on, it was clear that Greg had intended to sort of hand it over at some point. And I guess I performed well enough that they decided it was safe to hand over the U.S. delegation to me. So when he stepped down, he recommended me for the position. Why does Codex matter? Codex matters really both on an international level and perhaps this is selfish, but very much on a personal level for me. One of the reasons I decided to take it on is because it felt like just a great developmental opportunity. As I said, I was a bench chemist. I love working on methods, I love working with instrumentation. But this to me was a new experience, a new level of taking that scientific knowledge and sort of applying it more worldwide, even, not just within the U.S. It also learned how to talk to other delegations, perhaps more importantly, to express concerns in a very manageable and disagree without being disagreeable, I guess, is the phrase we use. And so that was a skill that I'm not perfect at yet. I don't know if any of us are, but has really allowed me to develop not just here in Codex, but within my professional life and quite frankly, even within my personal life. And as you get here, you start to understand the impact that these regulations or these guidances, these documents have, not just from a methods perspective, but because we interact with so many of the commodity committees, you see that these things really matter on how food moves throughout the world. And you also see some of the challenges with moving food from less developed to more developed nations and also trying to sort of raise every boat, a rising tide hopefully raises everyone and how we can do that. So the food safety initiatives we have in the U.S. or in the EU are as applicable to food safety, be it in Africa, Asia, or in Latin America. And so to be able to help with that safety is really beneficial. You've been involved for many sessions and you clearly seem to enjoy what you do in Codex and in the committee. But what has been your happiest moment? I think one of the happiest moments actually, it was pretty recent, was the adoption of one of the CCMAS information documents, which is basically the document that sort of outlines how we do our daily work here. So when I first started, the physical working group on endorsement was maybe 20, 25 people in a room sort of talking about methods, decisions were very much made on the fly, I would have to say. And as it's progressed, as more people have come to the committee, we've tried to expand that working group because it is a major portion of CCMAS. So in doing that, we've added interpretation or we, the Hungarians have added interpretation for us, which expands the room. And what that has done both great things but also some challenges because how we did it a long time ago or why we adopted a certain method was sort of like, yeah, it seems okay. And now it's more like, well, maybe we should get these rules in place. And so the standard developing organization sort of did the first draft of the information document and then the US took that on to really hash it out. And I think it does such a great job of taking the 100 and something page procedural manual and laying it out in about four or five pages, specific steps, set some guidelines for when we'd like to see information and the type of information we would like to see. And so I think it has really helped organize the process. And so being instrumental in that was great. And maybe I realized that when the woman who's now the Norwegian delegation but for a long time she represented NMKL and then she stopped coming to CCMAS for a while. And about two years ago or not COVID time but just prior to COVID, she came back after having been gone for four or five years and I was now running the working group on endorsement. And she came up and she was just like, wow, you've really organized things. It's great. And so to see that effect as you move through it, I don't think you always see the outcome. So to have her come back and see it, that was really, that was great to hear. And that work has clearly been an important milestone for you and for the committee. But in your view, what are other important milestones that this committee has achieved? I think other milestones for the committee, one I was on the very tail end of was the use of what we call numeric criteria. So traditionally we would simply type methods. And then it became clear that certain types of methods you could set numeric criteria for so that if you had a method you used in your lab you would be able to see if it met codec standards. That I think was a great useful event. And I came in on the tail end of that and we, along with the colleague I just mentioned from NMKL, developed some examples that moved into the procedural manual. I think again that information document that I just spoke about has been another milestone. Not just personally, but for the committee in general. I do think that the addition, how Hungary has, and the secretariat have taken on expanding the physical working group, again that was not a single event, but perhaps incremental in time. But I think that's been another huge milestone for the committee. I've asked you about successes and milestones, but what about challenges? Your biggest challenge, Greg? Yeah, I think some of the challenges, and we just, some are very fresh in my mind. We had some yesterday. I think the challenges, and it gets back to this idea of different systems and different cultures, is trying to find a path forward. And I think that's one of the things, both as a delegate, but now as chair of the endorsement working group that I really try to work on. And I think it's challenging to try to separate a single event from an overarching document that we're going to want to use years from now, and it's not really about this single event. So that's been a challenge, is trying to sort of set down, regroup both emotionally and scientifically. And what do you think needs to happen in the future to keep Codex relevant? To keep Codex relevant moving forward. I think there are some things that I know are in works right now. One of the challenges that we've had with our Codex Standard 234 is having it be accessible. We still print it out on paper and scroll through it as a PDF. I know there's databases being developed. To be able to connect our methods to the commodity standards quickly and easily. Or to see maybe people working in one commodity group are not familiar with something that's happening in another commodity group. So having those connections, I think, will allow Codex to be incredibly relevant. Codex doesn't generally operate in this system, but I do see, even as we sort of raise all ships and raise all food systems, there's still a separation in the instrumentation and methods that are available in one region versus another. I don't know how Codex would do this if it's in them, and I know there's outreach, but trying to level the playing field a little bit in that area. And again, I'm a methods person, so I'm focusing on these methods approaches. But I think that's a real concern, not just in Codex, but just in trade in general. And just one final question, Greg. What has Codex taught you? So Codex has taught me just a tremendous amount about how you approach problems and how you carry yourself is so critical to getting past either a perceived or a real barrier. There is a great movement in the U.S. right now. It's well past due, coming off of some of the George Floyd murders that happened and the sort of the realization about diversity, equity and inclusion. And to have experienced Codex to sort of be ahead of that curve because I see the benefit of the diversity and of including all countries and all cultures is really great from a personal perspective. I feel as I watch the DEI happening in the U.S., you know, I'm already there. I'm at the finish line, not the finish line, but I'm closer to the finish line. So that's, again, this impact on my personal life, perhaps very selfish, but I think is really where I see it every day. Greg, thank you very much indeed for your time. Thank you.