NIDAN - Codex Alimentarius

Transcription:

The Codex Alimentarius Commission is an inter-governmental body, that sets guidelines and standards to ensure fair trade practices and consumer protection, in relation to the global trade of food.

Codex Alimentarius does not represent any law. It is however, the guidelines, standards and recommendations instigated by the inter-governmental organisation of Codex to which countries can adapt their laws. That means removing barriers to trade. The reality is that most countries find they have no option but to harmonise their laws to Codex, as they are unable to face the sanctions imposed on them by the World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Body.

The World Trade Organization is therefore the policeman, that ensures these rules are abided by. The question we need to ask ourselves is whether these rules are good for the people, and whether they are good for the environment.

Codex covers almost all areas of the food supply, ranging from cereals, cocoa, dairy, meat, meat hygiene, sugars, fresh fruit and vegetables to more controversial issues such as food labelling, food additives, contaminants in food, pesticide residues and genetically modified organisms.

Codex Alimentarius aims to tell us what is safe, but in the process often uses criteria that are manipulated to support the interests of the world's largest corporations.

Government delegations that sit in the committees and task forces of Codex are not democratically elected representatives; they are bureaucrats. While the bureaucrats in the country delegations of Codex are theoretically responsive to concerns of members of the public, the practical reality is that the primary steer comes from major corporations.

Behind the commission's country delegates, which typically comprise between three and five members, are the international non-governmental organisations (INGOs). Depending on the meeting, these might include large consumer groups such as Consumers International, but they tend to be dominated by industry interests. That tends to mean the various international associations representing the food, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Decision-making in committee meetings is by so-called consensus among governments. INGOs are not allowed to vote, but they can certainly interject during meetings and can therefore influence decisions.

The system has few winners, the main ones being the transnational corporations, being directly involved in the global production and trade of food, and the pharmaceutical industry that profits from the increasing chronic disease burden that results.

The nutritional content and quality of foods is a low priority. Food hygiene is a high priority, but methods for managing it, such as the use of irradiation or large quantities of preservatives, deplete the integrity and quality of the food. The increasing use of GMOs, which are endorsed by Codex, is a huge problem both in terms of the effects on human health, and the environment.

It's extremely difficult to influence Codex. It's even harder if you're in Europe, as European Member States don't just act individually, they are also spoken for by the European Commission, which acts on behalf of the EU trading bloc. So even if you get the ear of the bureaucrats within your Member State delegation, this delegation is just one of 27 in the EU, that is largely represented by a single European Commission bureaucrat.

The difficulty in influencing Codex is likely to be the result of deliberately engineered decision-making process, that prevents individuals capacity to exert their democratic right.

GM foods, contaminants, additives, pesticide residues and other synthetic chemicals that many of us regard as intrinsically harmful, are pushed for all they're worth, being deemed safe at those concentrations typically used in processed foods. On the other hand, those things we consider intrinsically beneficial, such as vitamins and minerals, are given a very tough ride.

The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA, is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America.

If the North American Free Trade Agreement proceeds, this will likely ensure that policies affecting natural health (including GM, food additives, pesticide residues and all the other things that Codex deals with) will be aligned to the existing European system. This is why we see a transition away from Europe's traditional anti-GM stance towards a pro-GM stance, massively opposed by the European public.

One of the key requisites in having influence is to ensure that complaints about Codex are both accurate, and can be substantiated. There are many examples to show that misinformation on Codex has acted as a smoke screen to conceal genuine complaints, and this enables politicians and bureaucrats to have a reason to reject people's concerns.

Some of the misinformation on Codex appears to be deliberately disseminated, while other parts are unwitting reproductions of the misinformation by concerned, yet naive, individuals.

Inform yourself about Codex using reliable sources. Inaccurate information or disinformation can be more damaging to the cause than no information.

When it comes to being poisoned by pollutants or chemicals in the food, or having the fundamental rights and freedoms restricted by losing access to natural foods and nutrients, it is not Codex itself that provides the legal instrument that impacts the people; it is the national and regional laws of countries. This distancing of Codex from the law allows it to escape direct responsibility, but also makes its operation very insiduous.

The development of the global food trade in the last 30 years is neither good for our health, nor is it good for the environment. The increasing control of the food supply by a small number of governments, and an even smaller number of corporations, is counter to the needs and requirements of the majority of the population of the world. We must reverse the trend towards the global control of the food supply, and the dumbing down of natural medicines based on faulty, manipulated science.