Codex Members and Observers gathered today for the seventh session of the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH7) in Kochi, Kerala, India. Dr. Shri. Amardeep Singh Bhatia, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce of India, welcomed the participants recalling that “India took the lead of establishing this committee ten years ago, in 2013”. During the opening ceremony, Ms Hilde Kruse,  Senior Food Standards Officer with the Codex Secretariat, recognized the importance of the work carried out by CCSCH, with 11 Codex Standards on spices and culinary herbs already adopted, while Dr A.B. Rema Shree, Director of the Indian Spices Board, reflected on the role of the Committee noting that “our aim was to streamline the global trade in spices in all the links in the supply chain”.

Mr Steve Wearne, Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, sent a video message to delegates in which he highlighted that “CCSCH meetings are always characterized by warm collaboration and mutual respect, and also by remarkable efficiency”. Dr. M.R. Sudharshan, CCSCH Chairperson, added that “CCSCH was the first Codex commodity committee to hold virtual sessions and thanks to the excellent collaboration of Members, Observers, Stakeholders and support from the Codex Secretariat, we are now capable of meeting in person or virtually any time”.

At this session, the Committee is tackling a diverse range of topics, including dried small cardamom and turmeric, as well as continuing work on the development of group standards for spices, with a focus this session on spices in the form of dried fruits and berries (covering Allspice, Juniper berry, Star anise, and Vanilla). The development of group standards is one of the approaches developed by the Committee to enhance efficiency and expedite work for a wider range of spices. This session will also discuss provisions around labelling for saffron: while the main work on this standard was completed at the previous session, there is still need for clarity on whether to include only the country of origin or also the country of harvest.

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Learn more:

CCSCH7 / “Preparation, transparency, collaboration and inclusiveness” - Dr M. R. Sudharshan gears up for CCSCH | CODEXALIMENTARIUS (fao.org)

Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs, 29/01/2024 - 02/02/2024 | Kochi, Kerala, India

Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH)