CODEX ALIMENTARIUSINTERNATIONAL FOOD STANDARDSTom Heilandt, Codex Secretariat

C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S

• Governments establish food safety policies, food safety regulations and standards and control systems to assure that national food safety goals are met.

• All operators in the food chain have direct responsibility for ensuring the safety of food.

• Consumers play a role beyond safe handling of food: their choices and concerns influence decisions of government and the food industry.

C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S

Food safety is a shared responsibility

• WTO SPS and TBT Agreements. • SPS agreement specifically refers to Codex standards:

– reference for food safety in international trade– calls for harmonisation of national standards with Codex as an

important strategy for facilitating trade. – stricter standards as compared with the corresponding Codex

standard must be justified on the basis of science.

C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S

Food safety and quality in international trade

185 members

C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S

204 observers

Since 1963FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission

• To protect the health of consumers• To ensure fair practices in the food trade• To promote coordination of all food standards

work of IGOs and NGOs, and• to develop the Codex Alimentarius

C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S

C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S

Standards, guidelines and codes of practice

Structure and process for governments and organizations to find solutions and to harmonize rules

A RESULT A FORUM

C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S

- Voluntary - Reference in the WTO SPS agreement- 100% Member driven- Inclusive and transparent- Based on science- By consensus (usually)

Aditivos Alimentarios (China)

Contaminantes de los Alimentos (Países Bajos)

Higiene de los Alimentos

(Estados Unidos)

Food Labelling

(Canada)

Residuos de Plaguicidas

(China)

Residuos de Medicamentos Veterinarios en los Alimentos

(Estados Unidos)

Horizontal/ general Committees Vertical/commodity Committees

Milk and Milk Products (New Zealand)

Processed Fruits and Vegetables (United States)

Fish and Fishery Products (Norway)

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (Mexico)

Fats and Oils

(Malaysia)

Cereals, Pulses and Legumes (United States)

Vegetable Proteins

(Canada)

Natural Mineral Waters

(Switzerland)

Cocoa Products and Chocolate (Switzerland)

Ad-hoc intergovernmental task forces

Foods derived from Biotechnology (Japan)

Antimicrobial Resistance (Republic of Korea)

Processing and Handling of Quick Frozen Foods (Thailand)

Africa

(Cameroon)

Asia

(Japan)

Europe

(Poland)Latin America and the Caribbean (Costa Rica)

Near East (Lebanon)North America and South West Pacific (Papua New Guinnee)

Executive Committee Secretariat

Codex Alimentarius Commission

Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (Australia)

active

adjourned sine die

Fruit Juices (Brazil)

Animal Feeding (Switzerland)

dissolved

activeGeneral Principles (France)

Food Additives (China)

Contaminants in Foods (Netherlands)

Food Hygiene

(United States)

Pesticide Residues

(China)

Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods

(United States)

Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (Germany)

Methods of Analysis and Sampling (Hungary)

FAO/WHO Coordinating Committees

Sugars

(Colombia)

Meat hygiene

(New Zealand)

Discussion paper

S 1

S 8

Proposed draft standardProjectdocument

S2drafting

S3consultation

S4discussion/ drafting

S6consultation

S7discussion/ drafting

Codex standard

Executive Committee(critical review)

Committee or Task Force – existing or new

Commission(adoption)

S 5/5A

Committee

Draft standardconsultation

consultation

consultation

Endorsement by general committees

Hold at Step 8

Needs assessment,

development of a project

Decision

Drafting, consultation, discussion, redrafting

Consultation, discussion, redrafting, endorsement

Decision

Decision

C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S

• Speed of standard development • Remaining inclusive and transparent• Finding consensus in a heterogeneous membership• Participation of developing countries• Private standards

ISSUES

Codex Achievements:

hundreds of commodity standardsthousands of maximum residue limits

(pesticides, veterinary drugs)thousands of food additive provisions

guidance to prevent or reduce contaminationrisk analysis e.g. GM foods

HACCP…

C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S

“We have a wealth of experience, but we don't have all the answers. We must look around us for fresh ideas. If we only look

inwards, we will be a stagnant organization.”(FAO DG Graziano da Silva in his first address

to FAO staff)

C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S

Thank you!