Title: Codex Alimentarius

Source/Sponsoring Agency: World Health Organization; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

URL: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/index_en.stm

Date Checked: 2/3/2004      Status: Active

Date Annotated: 2/3/2004

Topics: Agriculture Law; Food and Drug Law

Other keywords: Food and Agriculture Organization; World Health Organization; Agriculture

Contents: According to its site, the Codex Alimentarius Commission was created in 1963 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization to develop food standards, guidelines and related texts under the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. The purposes of the organization include protecting the health of consumers, ensuring fair trade practices in the food trade, and promoting coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organizations. This website details the international organizations who make up the Codex Commission and provides the rules of procedure and codex policy. Researchers can find the full archived reports from Commission sessions starting in 1999, and search or browse the Official Codex Standards. Documents are in Word or PDF format, but not all standards are in the electronic database. Most standards are available in multiple languages.

Author of Annotation: B. Kreisler