|
Laws and Regulations
Q. Are there international food safety standards and regulations to ensure that imported food is safe for consumers to eat? A. While each individual country has its own food safety standards and laws, there are two international organizations that have established standards and rules to ensure consumers are being supplied with food safe to eat. They are the:
Codex Alimentarius Commission
World Trade Organization (WTO)
The Codex Alimentarious Commission is the body created by the FAO and WTO.
The Commission is charged with developing the food standards, guidelines, codes of practice, and recommendations that constitute the Codex Alimentarius, or food code, which serves as a global reference point for international trade. The Codex helps to protect consumer health, ensure fair food trade practices, and coordinate food standards work undertaken by internal government and non-government organizations. The or food code, is a global reference point for international food trade.
The WTO has an international agreement on how governments can apply food safety and animal and plant health measures called the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) Agreement . This agreement sets out the basic rules for food safety and animal and plant health standards, and names the joint FAO/WTO Codex Alimentarius as the relevant standard-setting organization for food safety.
Member countries are encouraged to use the Codex international standards, guidelines and recommendations when available, but may choose to set their own standards. These standards must be science-based and "applied only to the extent necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health".
The Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) agreement has specifications for control, inspection methods, and approval procedures. Each member government must provide advance notice of new or modified sanitary and phytosanitary regulations, and establish a national enquiry point to provide information. The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is the U.S. Enquiry Point for all WTO member inquiries related to SPS regulations.
Back to Common Questions Main Page 
|
