Codex Standards in the WHO South-East Asia Region

Overview

The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), the joint body of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), is responsible for implementing the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme and is the intergovernmental body mandated to develop codes of food and related texts that are part of the Codex Alimentarius (Food Code).

As on September 2017, the CAC had 188 Codex Members – 187 Member States and one Member Organization, the European Union (EU). The Codex Alimentarius includes standards for all the principal foods, whether processed, semi-processed or raw, for distribution to consumers.

The standards can be classified into two types. The standards that are of a general nature and applicable to all food types are called horizontal standards and the commodity standards, which lay down the requirements for individual (types of) foods, are called vertical standards.

Thus, the horizontal standards include standards/guidelines/codes of practice for food hygiene, food additives, residues of pesticides and veterinary drugs, contaminants, labelling and presentation, methods of analysis and sampling, and import and export inspection and certification.

The commodity or vertical standards (e.g. milk products, meat, fruits and vegetables, processed food, etc.) are for individual food commodities that contain the specific requirements of the product.