The Seventh Session of the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH7), 29 January – 2 February 2024, Kochi, Kerala, India, will open the 2024 cycle of meetings of Codex Subsidiary Bodies. We sat down with M.R. Sudharshan, Chairperson of CCSCH, to talk about the Committee, its current and future work, and the tasteful and colorful world of spices.

Q. Sri Sudharshan, thank you for your time. CCSCH is the most recently formed commodity committee in Codex and you have been chairing it from the first Session. What is your experience as Chairperson of CCSCH so far?

Greetings and thank you Codex for this opportunity. CCSCH was formed in 2013 when Codex was celebrating 50 years and in the past decade, the Committee has met six times out of which, two recent sessions were held virtually.

When I was appointed as Chair, I had no experience in Codex at all and everything was new to me. It took me some time to understand the system: on some occasions it was difficult to reach consensus, but thanks to the excellent cooperation and support of Members and experienced Observers, and the timely guidance of the Codex Secretariat, we were able to reach consensus and resolve issues. As I was gaining experience in conducting meetings, the Covid-19 pandemic struck and CCSCH was the first commodity committee to hold its meeting in virtual mode: though stressful at the preparatory stage, we could conduct the meeting successfully and excellent progress was made.

Ultimately, the experience I have gained so far as Chair and the progress I have made is gratifying. Working in the Codex system has shown that good preparation, transparency, collaboration and inclusiveness always pays off.

Q. Do you remember the first time you heard about Codex?

India had been actively involved in Codex activities and hence I had already heard about it. However, my involvement in Codex work started with the preparation of a document in 2013, a few months before my appointment as Chair of CCSCH. I was practically new to the Codex system when I got appointed as Chair.

Q. India, which has been a driving force and host country of CCSCH, had spice exports worth almost USD 4 billion in 2002-2023. What major challenges do you see for the future of the trade in spices?

Spices and culinary herbs are mainly produced by small farmers under a wide range of agro-climatic conditions. The production, processing, and packing of spices and dried culinary herbs are very complex, can take long periods of time and include a wide range of facilities. Some of the challenges are preventing contamination at each and every stage of the supply chain, maintaining sustainable production, ensuring end-to-end traceability systems for the spice value chain, and the modernizing wholesale markets.

In addition to conventional use, spices are currently more and more used in health supplements and nutraceuticals, especially in the post-Covid era where more focus is given on strenghtening the immune system, which has opened a new horizon. Consumers increasingly rely on sustainably produced ingredients of natural origin, with a focus on botanicals, herbs, phytochemicals, bioactive extracts, prebiotics and probiotics. Maintaining purity and safety and eliminating toxicity could pose new challenges to the spice trade.

Prevent food-borne diseases, build consumer confidence

Q. And how can CCSCH and Codex standards help to tackle them?

CCSCH standards provide food safety and minimum quality parameters to ensure fair trade practices. As a commodity committee, CCSCH also relies on the standards, guidelines and codes of practice developed by the general commodity committees; these texts are used to educate stakeholders throughout the supply chain to produce safe spices. By adhering to Codex standards, Members can prevent food-borne diseases, support the credibility of their products in the global marketplace and build consumer confidence.

Q. So far, safety and quality standards have been set for several spices and culinary herbs including, among others, dried black, white and green pepper, and cumin. This year the Committee will continue drafting new standards and advance the work on the template for spices and culinary herbs. What do you see as the highlights of the CCSCH7 agenda?

CCSCH7 is considering standards for important spices like small cardamom, turmeric and spices derived from dried fruits and berries – allspice, juniper berry, star anise and vanilla. This is the first-time standards are being considered for a group of spices, a new approach endorsed by CCEXEC and CAC and considered an efficient way to move forward in the standard setting work of the Committee. CCSCH is also in the process of developing a template for group standards which would facilitate standard setting work. Proposals for new work also include a proposal for a group of spices in addition to two individual standards, namely marjoram and coriander.

Q. And looking ahead?

CCSCH is evolving and making progress, moving from individual standards to group standards in a phased manner, which could pave the way for developing only group standards in the future, after gaining sufficient experience.

Q. One final question: What advice would you give to new delegates attending CCSCH for the first time?

Some of the documents under discussion during this Session have been under consideration of the Committee for the past two-three sessions, thus it is desirable that the delegates go through at least two previous reports to understand the context.

Meetings are conducted as per the Codex Procedural Manual: it may not be appropriate for me to suggest that delegates read the Procedural Manual now, instead they could talk to their experienced colleagues to receive useful tips and learn about the procedures to better participate and intervene.

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