Six Decades of Ensuring Food Safety with Codex Alimentarius

“Sixty years ago, the objective was to highlight the rapidly growing importance of internationally accepted food standards as a means of protecting consumers and producers globally and to reduce trade barriers effectively – these objectives are still very relevant today,” said QU Dongyu, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Director-General, during the opening ceremony of The Codex Alimentarius Commission's 60th anniversary and annual meeting. The Commission is a global food standards body that sets standards for the safety, quality, and fair trade of food. The Commission's 46th session is taking place at the headquarters of the FAO in Rome on November 27-30, 2023.

The Commission, which was founded in 1963, has grown from 30 members to 189 members to date. Hundreds of guidelines and codes of practice and thousands of numerical standards have been adopted since its inception. These standards are voluntary for member states, but they provide a structure for national health laws. Because of these standards, consumers are increasingly protected from unsafe or low-quality food purchases, and importers have greater confidence that they will receive conforming goods shipments. The Commission ensures that worldwide food standards are the same and guidelines for food safety, quality, and fair practices are created and upheld.

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