Standards • Volume 8 • Number 13 • 11th July 2008

Codex Alimentarius Commission: New Standards, Old Concerns

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The Codex Alimentarius Commission – the international standard-setting body for food safety – recently adopted new guidelines for a number of products, ranging from tomatoes to shellfish.

The annual meeting of the Commission, an intergovernmental body jointly established by the UN Food and Agricultural Commission (FAO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) was held in Geneva from 30 June to 4 July. The Commission is a forum engaging the international community in harmonising food safety standards and ensuring fair food trade practices.

Codex standards are non-binding and used as references by the WTO. They are implemented and enforced by individual countries. Because of the increasing global market for food, such standards have important implications for international food trade. By providing baseline guides for domestic food production, Codex standards seek to harmonise international practices with regard to consumer safety and lower non-tariff barriers.

The 31st meeting of the Commission discussed 41 texts, including standards for powdered milk formula, cereal toxins, shellfish, ingredient labelling, the use of flavourings and gluten-free foods. Thirty standards were adopted for inclusion in the formal Codex text, following comments by Commission members.

Old concerns

Among the standards passed during the meeting, officials agreed to a benchmark on powdered formula to reduce the risk of Enterobacter sakazakii, a bacteria that causes severe illness in babies and small children. The code sets maximum limits for the bacteria and provides guidelines on how to produce and handle prepared powdered formula.

All members of the Commission recognised the need for strict measures on this product, but some developing countries, led by Indonesia, inquired about possible alternative testing methods at lower cost. Indonesia’s question was echoed by Cuba, who argued for more scientific analysis of safe levels of bacteria, as well as a possible funding source for testing. The countries raised the possibility that the Codex Commission could provide more support for developing countries in meeting Codex standards, with the FAO and the WHO playing a greater role in capacity building.

As shown by their reservations with regard to standards that would require using costly production techniques, developing countries were concerned over potential implications for their export capacity and competitiveness. Throughout discussion about standard adoption on 30 June, Commission members from various developing countries stressed the need for consumer safety — not only for exported goods, but also for products used domestically — while also voicing concerns with regard to resource constraints and difficulties they face in standard implementation.

In a similar example, a standard on fish and fishery products practices was adopted in part, with a section on lobster definitions reverted to the Committee level for more discussion after ardent objections by several developing countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Indonesia and Mexico.

The section in question set a maximum limit for the amount of chlorine used to treat water that comes in contact with lobsters, to ensure that residual chlorine content does not exceed that of potable water.

Brazil and some other countries claimed, however, that the clause had no scientific basis and argued against setting a precedent for standards ‘without technical or scientific evidence’. Decreasing the amount of chlorine in water used to farm fish increases the cost of production, due to chlorine level monitoring and testing requirements.

Guidelines on tolerable allowance of low-level biotech grain

The Commission also adopted a guideline for countries to allow the low-level presence of unapproved biotech presence in grains and other products that have passed a food safety assessment according to Codex standards. The standard recognised that the commingling of commodities from storage, export and processing would inadvertently have only low levels in individual servings of food.

The EU, which in general is extremely cautious about biotech products, agreed to the annex at a meeting of the Codex Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology last September, given the implementation of an effective system for data and information sharing (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 19 October 2007, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/07-10-19/story1.htm).

Though the annex does not address risk management measures for individual countries or eliminate industry responsibility for meeting import requirements, the standard adoption was hailed in the US, which has taken a pro-biotech stance.

“This development in Codex is another tool to help improve the free flow of genetically enhanced grains,” said Erick Erickson, US Grains Council special assistant for planning, evaluation and projects. The standard is a step in creating regulating mechanisms to address the unintentional occurrence of biotech material.

New standards

Commission members also adopted a new international standard for tomatoes, ending seven years of debate. According to the standard, tomatoes can be round, ribbed, oblong or elongated, as well as cherry or cocktail tomatoes.

“Many developing countries in particular said that they needed this standard so that they ensure that they would get the right quality of products that they ordered,” said Tom Heilandt, senior food standards adviser at the FAO. He argued that such definition standards protect importing countries.

The Commission also adopted a standard setting a permitted limit of 10 parts per billion (ppb) aflatoxin content in pistachio nuts. Aflatoxins are naturally occurring carcinogenic substances. The standard, proposed by Iran, lowers trade restrictions on pistachio exports to Europe.

Other standards adopted include a definition for food labelled gluten-free – gluten level cannot exceed 20 milligrams per kilogram. Discussion on labelling centred on whether food sold as a mixture or combination should disclose percentage and weight in order to clarify contents for the consumer. Standards for bitter cassava and flavourings use by the Codex Committee on Food Additives were also added to the Codex text.

Each of the approved standards has undergone a long process. After negotiation at the individual Committee level, they go through a critical review at the Executive Committee, followed by elaboration and consultation with governments by a Task Forces and endorsement by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

The next session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission will be held from 29 June to 4 July 2009 in Rome.

Additional resources

Drafts of the discussed standards can be found online, and the final meeting report will be posted at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/archives.jsp?lang=en.

ICTSD reporting; 4 July 2008, “Hallmarks of the perfect tomato,” AGENCE FRANCE-PRESS; 3 July 2008, “USGC applauds Codex Alimentarius Commission,” GRAINNET.