Page 7 - Trade and Food Standards

Graziano da Silva Director-General, FAO
Trade in food is difficult to imagine without standards. Food standards give confidence to consumers in the safety, quality and authenticity of what they eat. By setting down a common understanding on different aspects of food for consumers, producers and governments, standards enable trade to take place. If every government applies different food standards, trade is more costly, and it is more difficult to ensure that food is safe and meets consumers' expectations.
Food standards and trade go hand in hand in ensuring safe, nutritious and sufficient food for a growing world population. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) acknowledge the role that trade can play in promoting sustainable development. Together, FAO and the WTO and their international system of food standards and trade contribute to achieving SDG 2 on hunger, food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture; SDG 3 on healthy lives and wellbeing; SDG 8 on economic growth, employment and work; and SDG 17 on strengthening global partnerships for sustainable development.
FOREWORD
Roberto Azevêdo Director-General, WTO
Food standards and trade go hand in hand in ensuring safe, nutritious and sufficient food for a growing world population.
Together, the FAO and the WTO provide governments with the means to establish a framework to facilitate trade on the basis of internationally agreed food standards. Through the joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission governments establish science-based food standards. The work of Codex provides governments with a valuable resource to achieve
Part 1. The institutional framework v
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