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IFOAM and the Codex Alimentarius Commission |
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For more than 10 years, IFOAM has had official status as an
international NGO observer at Codex Alimentarius. The Codex
Alimentarius Commission was created in 1963 by FAO and WHO to develop
food standards, guidelines and related texts such as codes of practice
under the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Program. The main purposes of
this Program are protecting health of the consumers and ensuring fair
trade practices in the food trade, and promoting coordination of all
food standards work undertaken by international governmental and
non-governmental organizations.
Of the many Codex Committees, IFOAM’s energies have been focused on the
Committee for Food Labeling, and in particular on the development of
Guidelines for the Production, Processing, Labeling and Marketing of
Organically Produced Foods. Like the IFOAM Basic Standards, the
Codex Organic Guidelines serve as an international reference for the
development of regional organic standards, and therefore foster
harmonization of all the standards. IFOAM has made it a priority to
ensure that Codex Organic Guidelines are highly consistent with the
IFOAM Basic Standards. In order to do this, IFOAM prepares
written comments on the new and revised sections of the Organic
Guidelines; and IFOAM delegates actively participate in every annual
meeting of the Committee for Food Labeling and an Organic Working Group
that serves the Committee.
IFOAM also follows the development of guidelines for the labeling of
foods that result from methods of genetic modification, and advocates
that all such food products must be labeled.
To learn more about Codex Alimentarius, visit its website at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/index_en.jsp
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