The Committee met from 26-30 November 2018 in Berlin, Germany, where concern was expressed about the difficulty of addressing all the demands placed on it by countries seeking support or clarification in relation to the regulation of the global trade in nutrition products.
The Committee said it would develop a prioritisation process and present it for discussion at the next meeting, which takes place in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 2019.
The news was welcomed by IADSA – the International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations – which sent a delegation to the meeting in Berlin.
Simon Pettman, Executive Director of IADSA, said: “With nutrition now arguably the single most important issue globally, it’s little surprise that the Codex Nutrition Committee is seeing an increase in demands on its time and resources. The resulting workload it currently faces is clearly challenging, and the prioritisation process will ensure that the most important matters can be dealt with through to completion.”
New, free e-guide to Codex
A particular pressure point for the Codex Nutrition Committee is demand from some members for more guidelines and standards that will help them build regulatory frameworks that align globally.
In response to this, IADSA has published a new guide on how Codex standards have been developed in relation to food supplements and the ways in which they apply.
Written by IADSA experts, and available in English, Spanish and French, the 72-page e-book is available to download free of charge now from the IADSA website: https://www.iadsa.org/resources/34.
Mr Pettman added: “The guide is an efficient, easy to use tool for governments and other groups who want a means to quickly get the information they need about how Codex applies to food supplements.”
Codex is the global body that develops food standards and guidelines that all its 189 members should adhere to. Where a barrier to free trade arises, a Codex measure is taken as a key reference point in adjudicating who is right and who is wrong.
