Codex Alimentarius

The Codex Alimentarius (Latin for 'Food Code') is a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines, and other recommendations published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations relating to food, food production, food labeling, and food safety.

Its name is derived from the Codex Alimentarius Austriacus. Its texts are developed and maintained by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), a body established in early November 1961 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Joined by the World Health Organization (WHO) in June 1962, the CAC held its first session in Rome in October 1963.

The Commission's main goals are to protect the health of consumers, to facilitate international trade, and to ensure fair practices in the international food trade.

The CAC is an intergovernmental organization: the member states of the FAO and WHO send delegations to the CAC. As of 2021, there were 189 members of the CAC (188 member countries plus one member organization, the European Union) and 239 Codex observers (59 intergovernmental organizations, 164 non-governmental organizations, and 16 United Nations organizations).

The CAC develops food standards on scientific evidence furnished by the scientific committees of the FAO and WHO; the oldest of these, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), was established in 1956 and predates the establishment of the CAC itself. According to a 2013 study, the CAC's primary functions are "establishing international food standards for approved food additives, providing maximum levels in foods; maximum limits for contaminants and toxins; maximum residue limits for pesticides and for veterinary drugs used in veterinary animals; and establishing hygiene and technological function practice codes".

The CAC does not have regulatory authority, and the Codex Alimentarius is a reference guide, not an enforceable standard on its own. However, several nations adopt the Codex Alimentarius in their own regulations, and the World Trade Organization (WTO), for purposes of food safety, refers to the Codex Alimentarius Sanitary and Phytosanitary practice codes in the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) for member countries. The Codex Alimentarius is thus an international reference point for the resolution of international trade disputes concerning food safety and consumer protection. Many bilateral and multilateral trade agreements refer to the Codex Alimentarius, adopting it as a point of reference.

The Codex Alimentarius covers all foods, whether processed, semi-processed or raw. In addition to standards for specific foods, the Codex Alimentarius contains general standards covering matters such as food labeling, food hygiene, food additives and pesticide residues, and procedures for assessing the safety of foods derived from modern biotechnology. It also contains guidelines for the management of official i.e. governmental import and export inspection and certification systems for foods.^{[citation needed]}

The Codex Alimentarius is published in the six official languages of the United Nations: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish and Russian. Not all texts are available in all languages.