Why does it take years to finish a standard?

The Codex Alimentarius has addressed several food safety related challenges over these years and the membership has also found solutions on a timely basis to meet these challenges. Codex stepped in to reduce barriers, to put science in the service of consumer protection and to place a safety net around the world's food supply. The Commission and its subsidiaries bodies make every effort to reach agreement on adoption or amendments of standards by consensus. However, sometimes consensus takes time to be reached and where there is opposition to an issue under discussion, the chairperson should ensure that the views of concerned members be taken into consideration by striving to reconcile conflicting arguments. To facilitate this path, CAC26 adopted a series of Measure to facilitate consensus, available in the Appendix of the Procedural Manual.