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The role of international standards in promoting food safety alongside international trade . Tom Heilandt Acting Codex Secretary. Overview. Importance of international standards to trade Importance of the science base / Risk analysis Codex risk management process New developments
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The role of international standards in promoting food safety alongside international trade Tom Heilandt Acting Codex Secretary
Overview • Importance of international standards to trade • Importance of the science base/Risk analysis • Codex risk management process • New developments • Conclusions
Different consumption of “product x” in countries A, B and C C B A
Different standards • Country A standard: 0.15 residue • Country B standard: 0.1 residue • Country C standard: 0.05 residue A and B cannot export to C
Different production of “product x” in countries A, B and C A B C
Result: difficult to trade • Importers cannot get what they need • Producers cannot export Needs are not fulfilled
Ways out • Adhoc: A, B and C negotiate and find a compromise • But is this safe and fair? Or just haggling with safety as others do with prices? • What if not only 3 parties involved but A, B, … Z? • Sustainable, safe and fair: Find a neutral broker to create a global public good for use by everyone
Based on science = Risk analysis • What is the risk? (Risk assessment - science) • What do we do? (Risk management) • How do we talk about it? (Risk Communication)
1963 WORLD FAO WHO MANDATE: to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade CODEX
CODEX FAO/WHO think tanks Members Strategy National standards Member project Process Result WTO Reference FAO/WHO science Networks 2014 WORLD Impact? Needs?
New developments to adapt to • World moving fast – more countries enter into the world food market • Different and new threats to health e.g. food fraud, double burden etc. • International consensus takes about 4.2 years • Private standards that are not based on science and use safety as marketing tool.
Conclusions • A neutral broker is needed to define the rules that govern fairness and safety of international food trade • Codex has this role now • The world is changing • Codex needs to change and has all the mechanisms to do so. • Let’s do it.