Codex Alimentarius Advances Food Safety Standards for Animal Health

Brussels, Belgium, 14 July 2015 – HealthforAnimals, the global animal medicines association, attended the 38th Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) meeting in Geneva (6-11 July). The Codex Alimentarius Commission adopted global food safety standards for three veterinary products, Derquantel (sheep tissues), Emamectin Benzoate (salmon and trout tissues) and Monepantel (sheep tissues). Furthermore, the Commission agreed to hold the consideration of global food safety standards for bovine somatotropin (rBST) at the final step. The Commission recognised the validity of the risk assessments performed by the joint expert scientific body of WHO/FAO (JECFA) and concluded that no public health or trade issues were linked to rBST and that no new scientific evidence had been provided. De facto this means that JECFA’s current conclusions will serve as interim guidance for countries until consensus is reached; a point recognised by the chair and many countries. “HealthforAnimals will continue to work very closely with the Codex Alimentarius Commission and member countries to adopt science-based standards in a timely manner,” said Carel Du Marchie Sarvaas HealthforAnimals Executive Director. “Countries rely on Codex as the global reference for food safety and need to trust that when all the conditions for a standard are met – scientifically and procedurally – that the standard can be adopted.” The Commission also addressed the reform work regarding its own structure and agreed that further comments were going to be reviewed at the next Committee on General Principles and the next Commission in 2016.

ENDS