Page 33 - Trade and Food Standards

Part I described the system of food standards Good trade relations depend fundamentally on
and trade rules created by members for members. With such a system in place, what is then required to keep it working and fit for purpose? And how can members take advantage of the benefits it has to offer?
As with any institution where everybody has a voice and the right to take part, the two complementary spheres of Codex and the WTO rely on the quality of the contributions made: participation is important to bring about change, sustain and drive forward international standard- setting, and put the SPS and TBT tools to use – and, in turn, keep both institutions alive and relevant.
Beginning in Codex, members develop food standards that set the benchmark for public health and trade. Through WTO agreements, members strongly promote harmonization of trade measures based on those international standards. Next, also through the WTO, members monitor each other’s use of these standards, as applied in legislation and regulations, and the resulting trade effects. The loop is closed when information on the needs of stakeholders and trade effects feeds back into the Codex process, allowing members to decide on the need to develop new standards or update existing ones. Capacity-building, provided by FAO, the WTO and others, is essential to enabling members to benefit fully from the system.
Understanding the system
The system can be maintained if countries invest by participating in Codex. Likewise, engagement in the SPS and TBT Committees will ensure that guidance and best practices for implementing the agreements remains up-to-date, and that trade frictions are effectively resolved. But it is coordination and processes at the national level for both Codex and the WTO that give a country genuine access to the system. What is required is what we will term effective preparation, which, when combined with strategic participation in the international meetings of the two institutions, gives a country the ability to influence the creation of standards in the areas it needs, and to make sure that the standards developed reflect domestic needs. Effective preparation also means making use of WTO mechanisms to further a country’s trade interests, including by making sure trading partners apply international standards.
agreement regarding standards. This section will argue that it is only effective preparation that will allow a country to, first, identify where action is required, and then to work to develop this action through an integrated multisectoral consultation at the national level. Health, agriculture, industry, trade and consumer groups all need to be involved in setting a national agenda and national priorities. It is by drawing on the knowledge and experience of these diverse but interconnected groups that a country is able to recognize what is in its own national interest and which measures can be instrumental in facilitating access to export markets. In the same way, knowledge experience, and multisectoral coordination is needed to apply WTO agreements and their rules and procedures at the national level, and to make sure that thematic work on new guidance and practices address emerging issues. It is also through this process that trade problems faced by producers in their export markets can be identified, so that national positions can be taken to address these concerns.
This section first outlines how the WTO SPS and TBT Agreements operate and the importance of members being equipped to participate, making the case for investment in national systems and engagement at the international level. It then describes how standards are developed in Codex, providing guidance on the key principles for
As with any institution where everybody has a voice and the right to take part, the two complementary spheres of Codex and the WTO rely on the quality of the contributions made.
Part 2. The benefit of taking part 21