Policy and Regulatory Issues 299and implement a science-based, comprehensive, inte-
grated, and action/policy-oriented “Nutrition Agenda”
at the global, regional and country levels that addresses
the whole spectrum of nutrition problems towards
attaining the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) and other nutrition-related international
commitments, including the prevention of the diet-
related chronic diseases. The Millennium Declaration
(later restated as MDGs with specifi c measurable
targets that should be met by 2015) was signed by 147
heads of state in 2000 and passed unanimously by the
members of the UN General Assembly. The MDGs
seek to eliminate hunger, poverty, maternal and child
malnutrition with particular emphasis on maternal
and fetal undernutrition and malnutrition, and
micronutrient malnutrition. The UN Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) was established by the UN General
Assembly in 1946. UNICEF provides long-term
humanitarian and developmental assistance to
children and mothers in developing countries with
special emphasis on pregnancy, breastfeeding and
the fi rst 3 years of life.
FAO/WHO and Codex Alimentarius
In the 1950s food regulators, traders, consumers,
and experts were looking increasingly to the FAO and
WHO for leadership about the plethora of food regu-
lations that were impeding trade and that for the
most part were not providing adequate protection for
consumers. As a result, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert
Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) was estab-
lished in 1956. Its remit now covers the evaluation of
contaminants, naturally occurring toxicants and resi-
dues of veterinary drugs in food. In the early 1960s a
Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues
(JMPR) was set up to provide independent scientifi c
advice to the FAO and WHO with recommendations
from panels of independent experts on the use of
pesticides in agriculture and safe levels of residues
in foods. The Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on
Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) began
in 2000. The aim of JEMRA is to optimize the use of
microbiological risk assessment as the scientifi c basis
for risk management decisions that address microbio-
logical hazards in foods. Other examples of ad hoc
joint expert consultations on new or emerging food
and nutrition problems are the Joint FAO/WHO
Expert Consultation on Acrylamide or the ad hoc
Committee on Foods derived from Biotechnology.
The FAO also recognized the need for international
agreement on food standards, labeling requirements,
methods of analysis, etc. In 1963, the Sixteenth
World Health Assembly approved the establishment
of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Program
and adopted the statutes of the Codex Alimentarius
Commission (CAC).
The CAC is the pre-eminent global food standards
organization and has had an important impact on
food producers, processors, and consumers. The
principal aims of Codex are to protect consumers’
health, ensure fair practices in the food trade by the
development of science-based food quality and safety
standards, guidelines, and recommendations, and
promote coordination of all food standards work
undertaken by governmental and international
organizations. The harmonization of food standards
facilitates trade between countries and underpins it
with a guarantee that food that is traded will be
safe and of the same quality as the same product
made elsewhere. Membership of CAC is open to all
member nations and associate members of the FAO
and/or WHO. By 2007, some 174 countries and one
Member Organization (European Community) were
members. CAC meetings are held yearly and alter-
nately at the FAO headquarters in Rome and the
WHO headquarters in Geneva. At these meetings
draft and fi nal standards, guidelines, and codes of
practice are adopted. Each member of the Commis-
sion has one vote. Decisions of the Commission are
taken by a majority of votes cast. Representation is on
a country basis. National delegations are led by senior
offi cials appointed by their governments. Delegations
may include representatives of industry, consumers’
organizations, and academic institutions. Countries
not members of the Commission sometimes attend
in an observer capacity. A number of international
governmental organizations and international NGOs
also attend in an observer capacity. These organiza-
tions may put forward their points of view at every
stage except in the fi nal decision, which is taken by
member governments. The Commission and member
governments have established country Codex
Contact Points and many member countries have
National Codex Committees to coordinate activities
nationally.
Codex Alimentarius is the Latin name for food law
or food code. The main aim of Codex is to defi ne
international standards, codes of practice, and other