The World Bank’s Knowledge Exchange Series of webinars focused in on the Codex Alimentarius in its session on Thursday 12 March, with discussion on how Codex standards and related texts are adopted and used within national contexts in South Asia. As moderator, Farbod Youssefi-Vash of the World Bank, explained, the aim in the discussion was to debate how to move away from thinking of Codex texts “as one-size-fits-all rulemaking, to incentivising compliance”.

The four guests addressed a range of topics, which were initially grounded in the subjects of the short videos prepared by three of the speakers for this event, and then expanded out to address a variety of issues raised by several dozen attendees from across the world. Sarah Cahill, Codex Secretary, Alka Rao, from the Codex Contact Point in India, Kateryna Onul from the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, and Sri Lanka’s Aruna Ranawaka took it in turns to speak from different Codex perspectives on how and why countries and businesses can and should seek to use Codex texts.

Sarah Cahill kicked the discussion off with a reminder that the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) has 189 Members and “within Codex, what we say is we develop standards for Members, by Members so everyone has the opportunity to contribute the areas of specific interest to them,” she explained, adding “and what's also interesting is there's also an opportunity for observers to contribute to that standard setting process.” Observers represent, among others, the food businesses that ideally implement Codex standards. Speaking from the perspective of one Member, Alka Rao pointed out that “there are a lot of challenges when 189 countries come together, and every country will be facing their own challenges related to climate, population, food security, over and above the food safety issues.” India has been able to develop what they call an “adopt, adapt, create” approach to determining which standards align with India’s needs and capacities, citing pesticide maximum residue limits (MRLs) as an example. Rao also spoke of the importance of participation in Codex processes by highlighting the country’s promotion of and engagement in the development of a group standard for whole millet grains, which is highly relevant to the Indian context.

Cahill picked up on the reference to pesticide MRLs in response to an audience question on how less developed countries can hope to implement Codex standards. “The goal is not to try and develop standards that are impossible to achieve, but to find that balance between what can be achieved in terms of applying good agriculture practices and what is needed to protect consumer health,” she explained. Kateryna Onul agreed and also underlined the importance of Rao’s emphasis on participation “I think that one of the key prerequisites for effective Codex implementation at the national level is active country participation and representation in the Codex process,” she said. “This is essential because it helps to ensure that Codex standards reflect national realities.”

Aruna Ranawaka spoke from the perspective of the challenges involved in developing a standard for cinnamon within the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH). The key issue, he explained, is defining what is meant by “cinnamon”. There are many varieties, and different countries will be referring to different varieties when they speak of “cinnamon”. “The cinnamon discussion is a good example of the broad issue we are discussing today,” he said, “on how international standards balance harmonization with the real diversity of products and production systems.”

Other points of concern from the audience included how Members can ensure they have a voice, particularly on high-profile subjects such as formula for infants and young childrem, and how smallholders can cope with the need to comply with international standards in order to access opportunities to trade. On follow-up formula, Cahill acknowledged the challenges in such discussions, but highlighted that “in developing these standards it's not about necessarily responding to the loudest voice but understanding what products are moving in international trade and how do we ensure that they are safe for the intended consumer.” Regarding farmers, Rao pointed out that for her, Codex codes of practice are the “soul” of the Codex Alimentarius, since they provide guidance to producers and food businesses on how to approach standards compliance. Cahill concurred: “ultimately,” she said, “what we're trying to do is highlight the outcome we want to achieve.” In tune with the idea that it takes a village to raise a child, she pointed out “there needs to be a whole group of people … you can never take the Codex text and give it to a small farmer or smaller medium-sized business. There has to be a whole infrastructure in between, where you pull out the parts and translate them into additional contextualized guidance relevant to the farmer or food business operator that needs to take actions.”

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