46th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission Opening Statement By Dr QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning from Rome.

This year marks the 60th Anniversary of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, following its establishment through a resolution adopted by the FAO Ministerial Conference in 1961.

Sixty-two 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 effectively reduce trade barriers. These objectives are still very relevant today.

FAO was the first UN Organization to deal with agriculture trade. That is why one of the FAO’s earliest committees was the Commission on Food and Agriculture established in 1947, and why in 1961 the FAO Ministerial Conference called for the establishment of this special Commission. 

In 1963, two years after the FAO Ministerial Conference, the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) passed a related resolution with the objective of highlighting the health dimensions of food standards.

Thirty Members attended the first session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in 1963.  That was the same year I was born!

Who would have thought 60 years ago that a Chinese man would be the FAO Director-General, working on food security and establishing food safety standards.

I have also worked in assisting the Chinese People’s Congress in passing the first agriproduct quality and safety law in China because in China, and indeed in the East Asia and Southeast Asia region, we eat more fresh products than processed products.

I had to spend many months convincing the Congress of the difference between food and agricultural products, because in our region the fresh vegetables we eat and the food we buy is defined in the European concept as raw material.

That is why the Chinese Minister of Health at that time said that we already had the food safety law, so why did we need another agriproduct quality and safety law?

I am mentioning all this to you to highlight the need to continue respecting differences among different cultures and different agrifood systems in the world. We need region specific scenarios and standards, and to apply practices that are appropriate for local consumers and producers.

Today, the Codex family has grown to 189 Members, reflecting the relevance of the Codex mission.

In addition, 240 Observer Organizations also contribute to shaping the “Food Code”.

Over the years, the Commission has adopted thousands of standards, guidelines, and codes of practice, and has become a global reference point for the production, processing, storage, distribution, and preparation of safe food globally.

Following the establishment of the World Trade Organization in 1995, the Codex Alimentarius has become the benchmark for the safety of food traded globally.

More than ever, there continues to be an important emphasis on science and risk assessment as the basis for standards, as we look to science to prevent food from becoming unsafe and to reduce the risk of foodborne illness.

FAO and WHO have the mandate to provide the scientific basis of Codex standards and facilitate smooth agriculture trade.

What is the meaning of CODEX? For scientists or professional people, it is about making recommendations for the establishment of standards and guidelines. However, the original meaning in 1961 was to protect consumers and producers. And today, more importantly, it is about facilitating smooth and open agricultural trade.

This is what, as a professional Organization, we are working towards together.

The Codex Alimentarius brings together the world’s top scientist to analyze all available data and discuss specific microbiological or chemical hazards, in a systematic way.

Their deliberations focus on the protection of the most vulnerable, such as children and pregnant women, and take into consideration local and regional differences in food consumption and production.

Codex also defines the quality of foods by providing guidelines on hygiene, labelling, nutrition, and the measurements and sampling techniques that attest to its safety.

In principle, if it is not safe, you cannot call it food. Food should be safe, first.

Even feed for animals should be safe.

Governments, primary producers, food business operators, academia and all relevant stakeholders refer to the Codex standards, which have been developed on a consensus basis over the course of sixty years and reflect a true “systems thinking”.

The production of safe food requires systems thinking from the start: the soil, the water, agricultural and post-harvest practices, and all other inputs - all determine the safety and quality of the food we eat.

Also, we must implement HACCP - Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points - from the production spaces to the marketing places.

Today, the food chain has become long and complex. In traditional farming, practices and consumption patterns, the path from the field to the table is very short because we eat a lot of raw materials and less processed and treated because of the short distance from the production place to the marketplace.

But now, with international trade from one country to another, we have established science-based border control, which again highlights the importance of systems thinking for prevention and control in food safety from soil to markets.

We need products that are environmentally friendly and economically viable. That is the way we can keep the international trade open and smooth.

The food safety and quality applied through the systems lens are especially important as we transform global agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient, and more sustainable.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Hunger and acute food insecurity continue to be on the rise.

Today, 828 million people currently suffer from hunger, and over 3 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet.

At FAO, we work to reverse these trends through our aspiration of the Four Betters, endorsed by the FAO Ministerial Conference and as set out in the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31, which means: Better Production – for this we need Codex standards and guidelines and recommendations – then Better Nutrition, a Better Environment, and a Better Life, leaving no one behind.

Important bodies like the Codex Alimentarius Commission, where public and private sector work side-by-side, are well positioned to make a difference.

Partnerships continue to be the key to achieving our collective objectives, in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs.

As we look to the future, let us continue working together through this partnership, with inclusivity, and with a science and data and an evidence-based approach.

I wish to thank all the Codex members for their contribution over the past sixty years, especially the Members who have hosted the various Codex Committees, and to the Chairs of the Commission, and of course all the Members of the Commission.

Being the Chair is sometimes very challenging, but over the years who have provided leadership, coordination, and passion for the Commission’s work. You have worked towards building consensus listening to different opinions and angles, and finally reaching agreement on the different “wording” and “phrasing”.

It is a partnership at all levels contributing to the transformation of global agrifood systems.

I wish all of you a successful session and celebration of these past sixty years and look forward to another new chapter for the next sixty years!

Of course, the younger people here - younger than 40 - most probably will have another 60 years, and I know for sure I will not have another 60 years, but I will try my best for another 40 years when I can participate virtually to celebrate 100 years of Codex!

Thank you.