Brief Background of Codex Alimentarius Commission

• The Codex Alimentarius Commission was established in May 1963.
• The Commission is jointly managed by the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
• As of 2021, the Codex Alimentarius Commission has 189 Codex Members, comprised of 188 Member Countries and 1 Member Organization, the European Union .
• India became a member of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in 1964.
• All Member Nations and Associate Members of the FAO and WHO that are interested in international food standards can become members of the Commission.
• The Commission holds regular sessions once a year, alternating between Geneva and Rome.
• The CAC operates in the six official languages of the United Nations (UN), which are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.
• The WHO and FAO jointly handle all budgetary matters.

Commission's Objectives

The official mandate of the Codex Alimentarius Commission is to implement the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme, which aims to:

1. Protect consumer health and ensure fair practices in the food trade;
2. Promote the coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organisations;
3. Determine priorities and guide the preparation of draft standards through and with the help of appropriate organizations;
4. Finalize standards prepared under the previous point and publish them in a Codex Alimentarius, either as regional or worldwide standards, along with international standards already finalized by other bodies, wherever practicable;
5. Amend published standards as needed, in light of developments.

CODEX Committees

The Commission's food standards development work is supported by its Executive Committee and its subsidiary bodies, including the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CCEXEC). As the Regional Coordinator for the FAO/WHO Regional Coordinating Committee for Asia (CCASIA), India is a member of the CCEXEC.

Below are the subsidiary bodies for the Commission:

• Committees - These prepare draft standards for submission to the Commission and may be either General Subject or Commodity specific.
• Coordinating Committees - These enable regions or groups of countries to coordinate food standards activities in the region. Currently, there are six Codex regions:
  • Kenya, Africa
  • India, Asia
  • Netherlands, Europe
  • Chile, Latin America and South-West Pacific
  • Vanuatu, North America and South-West Pacific
  • Iran, Near East
• Task Forces - These are ad hoc Intergovernmental Taskforces with very limited terms of reference established for a fixed period of time.

You can learn about the Different Committees and their Recommendations at the linked article.

Codex Standards

Codex standards can be general or specific, and are recognized by WTO Agreements as reference standards:

• General Standards, Guidelines, and Codes of Practice – These core Codex texts typically deal with hygienic practice, labelling, contaminants, additives, inspection & certification, nutrition, and residues of veterinary drugs and pesticides and apply horizontally to products and product categories.
• Commodity standards – Codex commodity standards refer to a specific product, although increasingly Codex now develops standards for food groups.
• Regional standards – Standards developed by the respective Regional Coordinating Committees, applicable to the respective regions.

Aspirants preparing for the IAS exam can check the UPSC Syllabus for the prelims and mains examination for the Civil Services Exam at the linked article.

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