Tom Heilandt Acting Codex Secretary The role of international standards in promoting food safety alongside international trade Tom Heilandt Acting Codex Secretary

Overview Importance of international standards to trade Importance of the science base/Risk analysis Codex risk management process New developments Conclusions

Different consumption of “product x” in countries A, B and C

Different standards Country A standard: 0.15 residue Country B standard: 0.1 residue Country C standard: 0.05 residue A and B cannot export to C

Different production of “product x” in countries A, B and C

Result: difficult to trade Importers cannot get what they need Producers cannot export  Needs are not fulfilled

Ways out Adhoc: A, B and C negotiate and find a compromise But is this safe and fair? Or just haggling with safety as others do with prices? What if not only 3 parties involved but A, B, … Z? Sustainable, safe and fair: Find a neutral broker to create a global public good for use by everyone

Based on science = Risk analysis What is the risk? (Risk assessment - science) What do we do? (Risk management) How do we talk about it? (Risk Communication)

1963 WORLD FAO WHO MANDATE: to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade CODEX

CODEX FAO/WHO think tanks Members 2014 WORLD Impact? Needs? Strategy National standards Member project Process Result WTO Reference FAO/WHO science Networks 2014 WORLD Impact? Needs?

New developments to adapt to World moving fast – more countries enter into the world food market Different and new threats to health e.g. food fraud, double burden etc. International consensus takes about 4.2 years Private standards that are not based on science and use safety as marketing tool.

Conclusions A neutral broker is needed to define the rules that govern fairness and safety of international food trade Codex has this role now The world is changing Codex needs to change and has all the mechanisms to do so. Let’s do it. 2019/4/26