Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 6 • Number 9 • 12th March 2002

Codex Task Force Adopts Standards For Biotech Food


The Codex Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived From Biotechnology at its third meeting in Yokohama, Japan, on 4-8 March adopted principles for risk analysis and guidelines for conducting safety assessments of foods derived from biotechnology.

Delegates agreed to include the concept of "traceability" in the standards (ie a system for tracing all foods and food components from their origin to the point of final consumption), but without explicitly referring to it. This issue was one of the key items that had held up adoption of the standards at the last meeting of the task force (see BRIDGES Weekly, 4 April 2001) and continues to cause disagreement between the US and EU in the context of proposed EU labelling and traceability requirements for GMOs which the US regards as "not workable" and unnecessarily trade restrictive (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 24 January 2002). Some observers believe that the agreement reached at the Codex meeting might mark a breakthrough in international negotiations on the use of traceability systems.

The principles for risk analysis would require authorities to take into account uncertainties identified in the safety assessment and implement appropriate risk management measures. In addition, the principles define the need for pre-market safety assessment on a case-by-case basis. Assessments should look at both the intended and unintended effects, identifying new or altered hazards and identifying changes, relevant to human health, especially in regard to key nutrients and potential allergenic components.

The standards will now be submitted to the Codex Alimentarius Commission for adoption at its next meeting in July 2003 in Rome, Italy. Documents of the meeting are available at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/ccfbt3/bt02_01e.htm.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission is recognised by the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) as the international organisation responsible for standard-setting related to food safety and the harmonisation of food safety measures affecting trade. WTO Members are required to base their food safety measures on the Commission’s standards, guidelines or recommendations. The other two international standard-setting bodies recognised in the SPS Agreement are the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) for plant health and the Office International de Epizooties (OIE) for animal health and zoonoses.

"Codex Task Force agrees on final draft of principles for the evaluation of GM foods," FAO/WHO PRESS RELEASE, 8 March 2002; "Participants agree on int’l safety standards for GM foods," JAPAN ECONOMIC NEWSWIRE, 8 March 2002.