How is Codex different from WTO and other trade pacts and organizations?
In the US, the FDA sets standards, but Congress may decide that the products that meet those standards can’t be sold to another country. Similarly, the Codex sets the standards, the World Trade Organization (like Congress) creates and implements policy. WTO was set up by GATT, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. GATT is the international trade agreement that requires a “race to the bottom” on health, environmental and labor standards. WTO policy requires countries to compensate companies whose products are rejected. The US is paying hundreds of millions to a Canadian manufacturer of a carcinogenic fuel additive banned in California. The US is engaging in a trade war with Europe, which has rejected US beef because it has banned hormones. And so on. Codex has nothing to do with trade policy; it applies to the manufacture and labeling of products before they are traded.
