In May 1963, the Sixteenth World Health Assembly approved the establishment of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme and adopted the Statutes of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Thus, the Codex Alimentarius Commission was born and its first meeting was held in Rome 25th June – 3rd July, 1963. Today the 187 countries worldwide that comprise Codex hold two major food-related goals:
(1) to protect the health of consumers, and
(2) to assure fair practices in food trade.
It has become the single most important international reference point for developments associated with food standards.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission has been supported in its work by the now universally accepted maxim that people have the right to expect their food to be safe, of good quality and suitable for consumption.
The Codex Alimentarius covers all foods (raw, semiprocessed, and processed). It contains general standards covering matters such as food labelling, food hygiene, food additives, and pesticide residues. It contains standards for specific foods. It also contains guidelines for the management of official import and export inspection and certification systems for foods.
To protect the health of consumers, provisions on food additives, contaminants and hygiene requirements form a central core of each standard. Codex standards and codes are supplemented by interpretative documents which prescribe basic principles or provide supplementary information.
The significant contributions of Codex have historically centered on its effort to protect consumer health and safety; the Codex impact on international trade has been believed by many to be of secondary importance. While one of the major goals of Codex continues to be focused on consumer protection, recent events have brought new attention to the role of Codex in assuring fair practice in food trade.
Codex
Alimentarius
