Codex Alimentarius
Last Updated March 29, 2001
Introduction
Codex Alimentarius was formed in 1961 as an
outgrowth of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the
United Nations (UN) to improve world health by establishing
guidelines for food safety for two purposes 1) to provide
safety standards for less developed countries that don't
have any, and 2) to ensure artificial trade barriers are
not set up. Protecting consumer health and fair practices
in food trade are the main objectives under the scrutiny
of Codex Alimentarius. Moreover, Codex fights for people
to have the right to expect their food to be safe, of good
quality and suitable for consumption.
Codex confronts the issue of food safety from
several different aspects. 1) food standards for commodities,
2) codes of hygienic or technological practice, 3) pesticide
evaluation, 4) limits for pesticide residues, 5) guidelines
for contaminants, 6) food additives evaluated and 7) veterinary
drugs evaluated.
Text Structure
Rules and guidelines covered under Codex Alimentarius
are updated and published in a text comprised of Volumes
1-13. Collectively, the volumes contain general principles,
general standards, definitions, codes, commodity standards,
methods and recommendations. The contents list of each volume
is well organized for ease of reference. For example:
Volume 1B - General requirements (food hygiene)
-
Preface
-
Recommended International Code of Practice
General Principles of Food Hygiene
- Hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP system
and guidelines for its application
- Principles for the establishment and application of microbiological
criteria for foods
- Publication history
- Index
Delegation
The Codex Commission meets every two years, alternately at
FAO headquarters in Rome and at WHO headquarters in Geneva.
Representation at sessions is on a country basis. Senior officials
appointed by their governments lead national delegations.
Delegations often include representatives of industry, consumer
organizations and academic institutes. Countries that are
not yet members of the Commission sometimes attend in an observer
capacity. International governmental organizations and international
NGOs also attend in an observer capacity. "Observers" put
forward their point of view at every stage except the final
decision.
Under Codex Rules, there are two kinds of subsidiary bodies.
The first is the group of Codex Committees, which prepare
draft standards for submission to the Commission. The second
consists of Coordinating Committees, through which regions
or groups of countries coordinate food standards activities
in the region, including the development of regional standards.
Codex Committees are classified as either General Subject
Committees or Commodity Committees. General committees are
so called because they work applies to all other commodity
standards. There are nine such committees:
- Committee on General Principles
- Committee on Food Labeling
- Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling
- Committee on Food Hygiene
- Committee on Pesticide Residues
- Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants
- Committee on Import/Export Inspection and Certification
Systems
- Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special dietary Uses
- Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Food
Commodity Committees focus on developing standards for specific
foods or classes. There are 16 such committees:
- Committee on Fats and Oils
- Committee on Fish and Fishery Products
- Committee on Milk and Milk Products
- Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
- Committee on Cocoas Products and Chocolate
- Committee on Sugars
- Committee on Processed Fruits and Vegetables
- Committee on Vegetable Proteins
- Committee on Cereals Pulses and Legumes
- Committee on Processed Meat and Poultry Products
- Committee on Soups and Broths
- Committee on Meat Hygiene
- Committee on Natural Mineral Waters
In addition to General and Commodity Committees,
there are also Coordinating Committees, which ensure that
the Codex Commission is responsive to regional interests and
to the concerns of developing countries.
Harmonized Food Safety
Codex encourages national governments to consider
the needs of all consumers for food security when devising
policies and plans regarding food. Furthermore, not only UN
member countries are strongly recommended to adopt standards
directly from Codex, but World Trade Organization (WTO) members
are also encouraged to adopt the standards.
To date there are two agreements under the scrutiny
of the WTO where Codex is specifically applied to support
the need for harmonized food standards. The Agreement on Sanitary
and Phytosanitary Measures calls for harmonized levels of
veterinary drug and pesticide residues, contaminants, methods
of analysis and sampling, and establishes guidelines for hygienic
practices. The Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, further
support the need for harmonized food standards in its efforts
to establish uniform labeling, packaging and processing standards.
The WTO believes that harmonization creates fewer barriers
to trade, which benefits farmers and their families and also
helps to reduce hunger and poverty.
Thailand's CODEX contact
point
Ms Metanee Sukontarug
Director
Office of the National Codex Alimentarius Committee
Thai Industrial Standards InstituteMinistry of Industry
Rama VI Street Ratchathiwi
Bangkok 10400
Tel: +662-2-202-3435
Fax: +662-2-247-8741
Telex: 84375 MINIDUS TH (TISI)
Email: metanee@tisi.go.th
The Committee on Food Hygiene will meet in
Bangkok this year October 6-13.
For more information call 66-2-202-3437.
For
questions or comments contact us
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