TRADE AND FOOD STANDARDS

TRADE AND FOOD STANDARDS

Published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization 2017

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) or the World Trade Organization (WTO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO or the WTO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO or WTO. FAO WTO WTO

ISBN 978-92-5-109793-9 ISBN 978-92-870-4501-0 (print) ISBN 978-92-870-4502-7 (PDF)

© FAO and WTO, 2017 FAO and the WTO encourage the use, reproduction and dissemination of material in this publication. Except where otherwise indicated, material may be copied, downloaded and printed for private study, research and teaching purposes, or for use in non-commercial products or services, provided that appropriate acknowledgement of FAO and the WTO as the source and copyright holder is given and that FAO’s and the WTO's endorsement of users’ views, products or services is not implied in any way. All requests for translation and adaptation rights, and for resale and other commercial use rights should be made via www.fao.org/contact-us/licence-request or addressed to [email protected] FAO information products are available on the FAO website (www.fao.org/publications) and can be purchased through [email protected] WTO publications are available on the WTO website (www.wto.org/publications). Printed copies can be purchased through http://onlinebookshop.wto.org.

Photo credits Front cover from top to bottom: @ foryouinf/Depositphotos; @noreenlhrpk/Depositphotos; @cybernesco/Depositphotos; @draghici/Shutterstock

Part 1. The institutional framework

CONTENTS Acknowledgements iv Foreword v Executive summary vii Introduction ix

PART 1. The institutional framework The Codex Alimentarius The World Trade Organization

1 3 12

PART 2. The benefits of taking part The WTO SPS and TBT Committees in action The benefits of taking part Participating in Codex Investing in capacity development

19 22 27 30 38

PART 3. A dynamic system

49

References and resources 56 Acronyms 58

Part 1. The institutional framework

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

iv

his publication, Trade and Food Standards, has been jointly prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

T

Fisheries and Aquaculture, the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, Legal and Ethics, Nutrition and Food Systems, and the FAO Regional Offices.

For FAO, the technical work was led by the Food Safety and Quality Unit in the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection and the Secretariat of the Codex Alimentarius Commission of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. The overall preparation and coordination was led by the Trade and Markets Division of the Economic and Social Development Department. Valuable comments and suggestions were provided by other FAO Departments and Divisions including Animal Production and Health,

For the WTO, the technical work was led by the Agriculture and Commodities Division and the Trade and Environment Division. Valuable contributions were provided by the secretariat of the Standards and Trad