300 Introduction to Human Nutrition
guidelines and recommendations. The main work on
standard setting is carried out in more than 20 Codex
Committees and Task Forces. These include commit-
tees dealing with “vertical” and “horizontal” stan-
dards, task forces dedicated to a particular task of
limited duration and regional coordinating commit-
tees. In addition, the experts’ meetings organized and
supported by the FAO and the WHO, JMPR, JEMRA,
and JECFA provide the scientifi c basis (risk assess-
ment) for the work of the CAC. At the beginning the
CAC concentrated on commodity standards called
“vertical standards,” for example standards for cereals;
fats and oils; fi sh and fi sh products; fresh fruits and
vegetables; processed and quick frozen fruits and veg-
etables; fruit juices; meat and meat products; milk
and milk products; sugars, cocoa products, and choc-
olate. In the 1980s it was generally agreed that diver-
sifi cation of food products was occurring so rapidly
that the setting of detailed standards was in fact
hindering trade. Thus a move toward “horizontal”
standards began. “Horizontal standards” are general
standards that have application across a wide range of
foods, for example general principles: food additives
and contaminants; food labeling; food hygiene,
methods of analysis and sampling; pesticide residues,
residues of veterinary drugs in foods; food import
and export inspection and certifi cation systems;
nutrition and foods for special dietary uses. These
standards are then published in one of the Codex’s 13
volumes. Codex standards pass through various stages
of ratifi cation by members – the eight-step process –
the fi nal one being that of acceptance. When members
accept a Codex standard they are committed to
allowing products conforming to that standard on to
their market.
A major concern of national governments is that
food imported from other countries should be safe
and not jeopardize the health of consumers or
pose a threat to health and safety of their animal and
plant populations. So governments of importing
countries introduce laws and regulations to reduce or
eliminate such threats. In the food area these
measures could become disguised barriers to trade as
well as being discriminatory. One of the main prin-
ciples of the Codex Alimentarius is that harmoniza-
tion of food laws and adoption of internationally
agreed standards would result in fewer barriers to
trade and freer movement of food products among
countries.
WTO: Sanitary and phytosanitary measures
and technical barriers to trade
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
began in 1948. Countries subsequently agreed to
lengthy “rounds” of negotiations to develop rules for
“non-tariff barriers” to trade. The completion of the
Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations
1986–1994 led to the formation of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) on 1 January 1995. The Uruguay
Round Agreements (which began at Punta del Este,
Uruguay) for the fi rst time incorporated agriculture
and food under its rules. Two of the Uruguay Round
Agreements relevant to international food regulation
are the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and
Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and the Agreement on
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). The SPS Agreement
allows governments to take scientifi cally justifi ed
sanitary and phytosanitary measures to protect
human health. The agreement commits members to
base these measures on internationally established
guidelines and risk assessment procedures. The SPS
Agreement has chosen the standards guidelines and
recommendations established by the CAC for food
additives, veterinary drug and pesticide residues, con-
taminants, methods of analysis and sampling, and
codes and guidelines of hygienic practice. A national
standard that provides a greater level of protection
than Codex is considered to be a trade barrier unless
the WTO decides that the stricter national standard
is based on a risk assessment that demonstrates that
the Codex standard, guideline, or recommendation
provides insuffi cient protection or that the country
maintaining the stricter standard has other scientifi c
justifi cation. The TBT agreement seeks to ensure that
technical regulations and product standards includ-
ing packaging, marking and labeling requirements,
and analytical procedures for assessing conformity
with technical regulations and standards do not create
unnecessary obstacles to trade. The importance of
Codex standards is also stated in the Technical
Regulations and Standards provisions contained in
Article 2 of the TBT Agreement. So, although CAC
standards are not enshrined in international law,
WTO endorsement of these standards through the
SPS and TBT agreements has effectively made them
mandatory, and Codex standards are the benchmarks
standards against which national measures and
regulations are evaluated. Both the SPS and TBT