C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S CODEX ALIMENTARIUS INTERNATIONAL FOOD STANDARDS Tom Heilandt, Codex Secretariat

C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S Food safety is a shared responsibility 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 and quality in international trade 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.

185 members 204 observers C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S Since 1963 FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission 204 observers

C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S 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 A RESULT A FORUM Standards, guidelines and codes of practice Structure and process for governments and organizations to find solutions and to harmonize rules

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)

Codex Alimentarius Commission Secretariat Executive Committee Horizontal/ general Committees Vertical/commodity Committees Ad-hoc intergovernmental task forces General Principles (France) Food Labelling (Canada) active active Fish and Fishery Products (Norway) Processed Fruits and Vegetables (United States) Animal Feeding (Switzerland) Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (Australia) Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (United States) Residuos de Medicamentos Veterinarios en los Alimentos (Estados Unidos) Fats and Oils (Malaysia) Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (Mexico) dissolved Foods derived from Biotechnology (Japan) Sugars (Colombia) Fruit Juices (Brazil) Aditivos Alimentarios (China) Food Additives (China) Residuos de Plaguicidas (China) Pesticide Residues (China) Processing and Handling of Quick Frozen Foods (Thailand) Antimicrobial Resistance (Republic of Korea) adjourned sine die Contaminants in Foods (Netherlands) Contaminantes de los Alimentos (Países Bajos) Food Hygiene (United States) Higiene de los Alimentos (Estados Unidos) Cereals, Pulses and Legumes (United States) Meat hygiene (New Zealand) Methods of Analysis and Sampling (Hungary) Natural Mineral Waters (Switzerland) Vegetable Proteins (Canada) Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (Germany) Milk and Milk Products (New Zealand) Cocoa Products and Chocolate (Switzerland) FAO/WHO Coordinating Committees Africa (Cameroon) Asia (Japan) Europe (Poland) Latin America and the Caribbean (Costa Rica) North America and South West Pacific (Papua New Guinnee) Near East (Lebanon)

Needs assessment, development of a project Commission (adoption) Committee Committee or Task Force – existing or new Discussion paper Executive Committee (critical review) Decision Drafting, consultation, discussion, redrafting Project document S 1 Proposed draft standard S2 drafting S3 consultation S4 discussion/ drafting Decision Endorsement by general committees S 5/5A consultation Consultation, discussion, redrafting, endorsement Draft standard S6 consultation S7 discussion/ drafting consultation Decision S 8 Hold at Step 8 consultation Codex standard

C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S ISSUES Speed of standard development Remaining inclusive and transparent Finding consensus in a heterogeneous membership Participation of developing countries Private standards Why are private standards an issue? We a lot of time talking to developing countries who are keen to enter the market. In many cases they have aligned their systems to conform to codex standards. Naturally they are disappointed if a prospecitve importer says to them: well what you ve done is great but you also need to confomr to this and this and this and by the way the MRL for this pesticide for us is 10 times lower … But not all is so bad because there is also a lot of misunderstanding on both sides.

C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S Codex Achievements: hundreds of commodity standards thousands of maximum residue limits (pesticides, veterinary drugs) thousands of food additive provisions guidance to prevent or reduce contamination risk 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)

Thank you!