Why are countries forced to dance to the Codex tango?
While countries like the USA are vocalising that they have no intention of harmonising their national laws with Codex guidelines, they admit they will have to comply for exports in order to avoid falling foul of the global trade policeman, the WTO. But these claims are both deceptive and hollow; they fail to take on board the full implications of the double-edged sword that is Codex, dealing on one hand with the facilitation of global trade and, on the other, the restriction of trade, supposedly on the basis of consumer safety. As we’ve seen, the whole purpose of Codex Alimentarius is to instigate a system of guidelines to which countries can adapt their laws to facilitate so-called fair trading practices in relation to food. That means removing barriers to trade. And since the WTO arbitrates on such matters, let’s examine the WTO’s SPS Agreement. The Agreement, under Article 3, specifically requires that countries harmonise their sanitary and phytosanitary measures with international
