Page 48 - Trade and Food Standards

In any given year, there can be as many as
100 working groups in Codex operating electronically between sessions on work assigned by a committee. Participation in such groups, as already mentioned, is one recommended route to both understanding Codex processes and procedures and to begin to influence and shape an item of work under way. By eliminating the travel and associated costs of physically attending meetings, Codex has met head on the challenge of encouraging greater involvement in standard- setting work by introducing simple and intuitive online systems both for working groups and for providing comments on draft texts.
By working efficiently and effectively in the preparatory stage at the national level, a coordinated and committed country can engage with and even lead work in Codex with minimum financial burden. Investing in a robust contribution at this initial phase – where a country demonstrates its knowledge and awareness of food standards issues, its priority national concerns, backed up by data and supported across sectors – allows for even greater benefits when a delegation takes part in a physical session of a committee.
Why apply Codex standards?
This section has so far outlined the importance of a nationally coordinated position to access the international standard-setting environment and argued for the need for standard-setting in a rules- based system. But what are the benefits of applying standards?
Benefits to public health and trade
The benefits of applying standards should be viewed in terms of both public health and trade. We have seen that it is in a country’s interest to take the first critical step by adopting standards through national legislation, but if a country is unable to enforce this legislation, it will not obtain the benefits. Unsafe food is a major social and development challenge and public health cannot be improved if the food reaching the consumer is not safe. This requires effective control measures to be put in place. Applying Codex standards domestically also makes it easier for exporters to gain and maintain market access.
In 2015, the WHO published the first ever "Estimates of the global burden of food-borne diseases" – the most comprehensive report to date on the impact of contaminated food on health and well-being. The report showed that nearly one in ten people fall ill every year from eating contaminated food, with 420 000 dying as a result and low-income areas most affected. Children aged under 5 are at particularly high risk, accounting for one third of the deaths even though they make up only 9 percent of the population. The public health burden of food-borne diseases is comparable in magnitude to those caused by tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS.
Unsafe food is dangerous, as demonstrated, but Codex provides global guidance. A seminal Codex text in response to the threat of food-borne diseases is The General Principles of Food Hygiene (CAC/RCP 1-1969), which follows the food chain from primary production through to final consumption, highlighting the key hygiene controls at each stage. A Codex code of practice, it recommends a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP)-based approach wherever possible to enhance food safety.
The controls described are internationally recognized as essential to ensure the safety and suitability of food for consumption. The General Principles are recommended to Governments, industry (including individual primary producers, manufacturers, processors, food service operators and retailers) and consumers alike.
The danger of unsafe food
36 Trade and food standards