The Codex Alimentarius, or "Food Code" is a collection of standards, guidelines and codes of practice adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The Commission, also known as CAC, is the central part of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme and was established by FAO and WHO to protect consumer health and promote fair practices in food trade.

1. Speaker
Dr. Ravikumar Vaniya
Research Associate
ICAR- Indian Agricultural Research Institute,
New Delhi

2. The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) is an International Food Standards Body
established jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization
(WHO) in May, 1963 with the objective of protecting consumer’s health and ensuring fair practices in
food trade.
Codex has developed hundreds of internationally recognized standards, guidelines and codes of
practices. It has defined thousands of permitted levels of additives, contaminants and chemical residues in
food. The ultimate goal is to ensure that food is safe for everyone, everywhere.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) held its first meeting in 1963. Currently the Codex
Alimentarius Commission has 189 Codex Members made up of 188 Member Countries and 1 Member
Organization (The European Union). India became the member of Codex Alimentarius in 1964.

3. The Codex Alimentarius Commission or CAC is the body responsible for all matters regarding
the implementation of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme.
Membership of the Commission is open to all Member Nations and Associate Members of FAO
and WHO, which are interested in international food standards.
The Commission meets in regular session once a year, alternating between Geneva and Rome.
CAC works in the Six United Nations (UN) official languages, which are Arabic, Chinese,
English, French, Russian and Spanish.
All the budgetary matters are handled together by WHO and FAO.
Codex sets standards for nearly 200 food products and has over 120 guidelines and codes of
practice on a vast range of issues linked to food safety, quality and trade.

4.  The Codex Alimentarius is a collection of internationally adopted food standards and related texts
presented in a uniform manner.
 These food standards and related texts aim at protecting consumers’ health and ensuring fair practices in
the food trade.
 The publication of the Codex Alimentarius is intended to guide and promote the elaboration and
establishment of definitions and requirements for foods to assist in their harmonization and in doing so to
facilitate international trade.
Purpose of the Codex Alimentarius

5.  The Codex Alimentarius includes standards for all the principal foods, whether processed, semi-
processed or raw, for distribution to the consumer.
 Materials for further processing into foods should be included to the extent necessary to achieve the
purposes of the Codex Alimentarius as defined.
 The Codex Alimentarius includes provisions in respect of food hygiene, food additives, residues of
pesticides and veterinary drugs, contaminants, labelling and presentation, methods of analysis and
sampling, and import and export inspection and certification.
Scope of the Codex Alimentarius

6.  Codex standards and related texts are not a substitute for, or alternative to national legislation. Every
country’s laws and administrative procedures contain provisions with which it is essential to comply.
 Codex standards and related texts contain requirements for food aimed at ensuring for the consumer a
safe, wholesome food product free from adulteration, correctly labelled and presented.
 A Codex standard for any food or foods should be drawn up in accordance with the Format for Codex
Commodity Standards and contain, as appropriate, the sections listed therein.
Nature of Codex Standards

7.  The Codex Alimentarius Commission and its subsidiary bodies are committed to revision as necessary of
Codex standards and related texts to ensure that they are consistent with and reflect current scientific
knowledge and other relevant information.
 When required, a standard or related text shall be revised or removed in accordance with the Procedures
for the Elaboration of Codex Standards and Related Texts.
 Each member of the Codex Alimentarius Commission is responsible for identifying, and presenting to the
appropriate committee, any new scientific and other relevant information which may warrant revision of
any existing Codex standards or related texts.
Revision of Codex Standards

8. From the very beginning, the Codex Alimentarius has been a science-based activity. Experts and specialists
in a wide range of disciplines have contributed to every aspect of the Codex Alimentarius to ensure that its standards
withstand the most rigorous scientific scrutiny.
Two longstanding expert groups – the Joint FAO/WHO Meetings on Pesticide Residues (JMPR) and the
Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) – have for many years produced internationally
acclaimed data widely used by governments, industry and research centres worldwide.
The safety assessments and evaluations they perform are based on the best scientific information available,
compiling inputs from many authoritative sources, and producing publications that are considered international works
of reference.
Codex and Science

9. It is fair to say that the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, together with that of FAO and
WHO in their supportive roles, has provided a focal point for food-related scientific research and
investigation, and the Commission itself has become an important international medium for the exchange of
scientific information about food.
Expert bodies:
I. JECFA - Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives
II. JMPR - Joint FAO/WHO Meetings on Pesticide Residues
III. JEMRA - Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Microbiological Risk Assessment
IV. JEMNU - Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Nutrition

10. The Secretariat of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, hosted at FAO headquarters in Rome, provides
coordination and liaison across the entire spectrum of Codex activities.
Under the overall guidance of the Codex Secretary, a senior official appointed jointly by the Directors-
General of FAO and WHO, the Secretariat comprises a small team of professional and technical officers and support
staff. The current Secretariat is made up of:
• 07 Food Standards Officers
• 03 Seconded Food Standards Officers from Republic of Korea and Singapore
• 01 Junior Professional Officer from Japan
• 09 Support staff and Consultants for IT, Web & Communications, Document Management and Editing
The Codex Secretariat

11. This infographic shows how the Codex Secretariat is funded either directly or in kind by FAO and WHO
governing bodies, member states and the host governments of Codex committees.

12. The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) is an international expert
scientific committee administered jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
JECFA serves as an independent scientific committee which performs risk assessments and provides
advice to FAO, WHO and the member countries of both organizations.
The requests for scientific advice are for the main part channeled through the Codex Alimentarius
Commission (CAC) in their work to develop international food standards and guidelines under the Joint
FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme.
JECFA - Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives

13. The Joint FAO/WHO Meetings on Pesticide Residues provide independent scientific expert advice
to the Commission and its specialist Committee on Pesticide Residues.
FAO and WHO maintain separate websites highlighting the work of the JMPR from the points of
view of the two parent Organizations.
JMPR - Joint FAO/WHO Meetings on Pesticide Residues

14. The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Microbiological Risk Assessment provide independent
scientific expert advice to the Commission and its specialist Committees.
FAO and WHO maintain separate websites highlighting the work of the JEMRA from the points of
view of the two parent Organizations.
JEMRA - Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Microbiological Risk Assessment

15. Following the successful model of other long-standing joint FAO/WHO scientific advice committees, the Joint
FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Nutrition (JEMNU) was established in 2010.
JEMNU strengthens the role of FAO and WHO in providing scientific advice on nutrition to Member States and
bodies such as the Codex Alimentarius Commission and in particular the Codex Committee for Nutrition and Foods for
Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU).
The joint FAO/WHO JEMNU secretariat identifies and invites the relevant global experts to a JEMNU meeting
where the necessary evidence is reviewed and evaluated and objective assessment of the quality of the evidence will be
provided to the risk managers at Codex Alimentarius to set suitably health-protective and trade-inclusive global nutrition
standards.
JEMNU - Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Nutrition

16. The Codex Alimentarius Commission consists of the following main organizational elements:
i. Commission;
ii. Executive Committee;
iii. Codex Secretariat;
iv. Codex subsidiary bodies.
What is the organizational structure of Codex?

17. The total membership of the Codex Executive Committee is 17. It is comprised of:
i. Chairperson
ii. Three Vice Chairpersons
iii. One member country elected from each of the following seven geographic regions:
1. Africa
2. Asia
3. Europe
4. Latin America and the Caribbean
5. Near East
6. North America
7. The Southwest Pacific
iv. The Regional Coordinators for the six regions
What is the composition of Executive Committee?

18. There are four kinds of Codex subsidiary bodies:
1) General Subject Committees (sometimes referred to as horizontal), which establish standards and
guidelines applicable to all foods;
2) Commodity Committees (sometimes known as vertical), which prepare standards for specific
commodities;
3) FAO/WHO Coordinating Committees, through which regions or groups of countries coordinate food
standards activities in the region, including the development of regional standards;
4) Ad hoc Intergovernmental Task Forces, which are time-limited and prepare standards and guidelines on
specific issues.
What are Codex subsidiary bodies?

20. The various Codex General Subject Committees are as below:
CCCF: Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods
CCFA: Codex Committee on Food Additives
CCFH: Codex Committee on Food Hygiene
CCFICS: Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems
CCFL: Codex Committee on Food Labelling
CCGP: Codex Committee on General Principles
CCMAS: Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling
CCNFSDU: Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses
CCPR: Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues
CCRVDF: Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods
What are the various General Subject Committees?

21. The various Codex Commodity Committees are as below:
CCCPL: Codex Committee on Cereals, Pulses and Legumes
CCFFV: Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
CCFO: Codex Committee on Fats and Oils
CCPFV: Codex Committee on Processed Fruits and Vegetables
CCS: Codex Committee on Sugars
CCSCH: Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (Hosted by India)
CCMMP: Codex Committee on Milk and Milk products
What are the various Codex Commodity Committees?

22. There are six coordinating committees/ codex regions , i.e. one each for the following regions:
i. Africa (CCAFRICA)
ii. Asia (CCASIA)*
iii. Europe (CCEURO)
iv. Latin America and the Caribbean (CCLAC)
v. Near East (CCNEA)
vi. North America and the Southwest Pacific (CCNASWP)
• India is the current Regional Coordinator for CCASIA.
Each committee is responsible for defining the problems and needs of the region concerning food
standards and food control.
By working collectively at the regional level countries are able to highlight regulatory issues and
problems arising from food control in order to strengthen food control infrastructures.
What are FAO/WHO Coordinating Committees?

23. Yes….,The established format for commodity standards, set out in the Procedural Manual,
has the following components:
i. Name of the standard
ii. Scope
iii. Description
iv. Essential composition and Quality factors
v. Food additives
vi. Contaminants
vii. Hygiene
viii. Weights and measures
ix. Labeling
x. Methods of analysis and sampling
Is there a standard format for Codex standards?

24. • Name of the food
• List of ingredients (In descending order)
• Net content and drained weight
• Name and address of manufacture
• Country of origin
• Lot identification
• Date marking and storage instructions
• Instructions for use
Food Labeling Requirements under Codex Alimentarius

25. Codex documentation is divided into eight main categories:
i. Codex Procedural Manual
ii. ALINORMs
iii. Committee working papers (CXs)
iv. Circular Letters (CLs)
v. Conference Room Documents (CRDs)
vi. Information documents (INF)
vii. Adopted texts
What are the main categories of Codex documentation?

26. Main principles are:
i. Excellence
ii. Independence
iii. Transparency
iv. Universality
What are the main principles of developing scientific advice at Codex?

27. The process for developing a Codex standard has eight steps.

28. Thematic area are:
i. Animal Feed
ii. Antimicrobial Resistance
iii. Biotechnology
iv. Contaminants
v. Nutrition & Labelling
vi. Pesticides
The role of Codex in different thematic area:

29. The Codex Trust Fund (CTF) was established as the FAO/WHO Project and Fund for Enhanced
Participation in Codex, with the aim of supporting developing and transition economy countries to participate
more effectively in the Codex Alimentarius Commission and its related committees.
The CTF is a development partnership located at the heart of the global Codex system and is based
on a mandate given directly by all Codex Member Countries, comprising developing and transition economy
countries, developed countries as well as FAO and WHO.
The Codex Trust Fund (CTF)

30. The Codex Trust Fund (CTF):
 focuses explicitly on supporting more effective engagement of developing and transition economy
countries in the Codex system.
 has direct entry into the national Codex systems of developing countries, in particular through national
Codex Contact Points and national Codex coordinating structures.
 has access to the internal capacities and external networks of the Codex Secretariat and its parent
organizations FAO and WHO.

31. The CTF is funded by donor countries, which currently include:
Canada Ireland New Zealand
European Commission Japan Norway
Finland Korea Switzerland
France Malaysia United Kingdom of
Great Britain
Germany Netherlands United States of America
India

32. https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/en/
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