Understanding Codex, now in its 5th edition, is a useful tool to introduce the Codex Alimentarius and its collection of international food standards to the public. The Codex Alimentarius is a collection of international food standards adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission that cover all the main foods as well as material used in the further processing of food. Codex provisions concern the hygienic and nutritional quality of food, including microbiological norms, food additives, pesticides and veterinary drug residues, contaminants, labelling and presentation, and methods of sampling and risk analysis. The Codex Alimentarius can safely claim to be the most important international reference point in matters concerning food quality. It plays an important role for food-related scientific research and in increasing awareness of the vital issues at stake regarding food quality, safety and public health.

The Codex Alimentarius is a collection of international food standards that have been adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Such standards cover all the main foods and also material used in the further processing of food. Codex provisions concern the hygienic and nutritional; quality of food, including microbiological norms, food additives, pesticides and veterinary drug residues, contaminants, labelling and presentation, and methods of sampling and risk analysis. The Codex Alimentarius can safely claim to be the most important international reference point in matters concerning food quality. Its creation, moreover, has generated food-related scientific research and greatly increase the world community’s awareness of the vital issues at stake food quality, safety and public health.

The fifth edition of this publication contains texts adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission up to 2012.

The Procedural Manual of the Codex Alimentarius Commission is intended to help Member Governments participate effectively in the work of the joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. The manual is particularly useful for national delegations attending Codex meetings and for international organizations attending as observers. It sets out the basic Rules of Procedure, procedures for the elaboration of Codex standards and related texts, basic definitions and guidelines for the operation of Codex committees. It also gives the membership of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Also published in French and Spanish.

In 2013 the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) approved its most ambitious plan to date: the Codex Strategic Plan 2014-2019. Structured around four goals, the plan aimed to guide Codex work towards more effective communication and efficient practices that would promote robust, inclusive, transparent and collaborative food standards setting. This report examines the achievements of the Strategic Plan 2014-2019. It is divided into sections that focus on the plan’s four goals and provides a summary of successes achieved and identifies the challenges that arose.

Official and officially recognized inspection and certification systems are fundamentally important and very widely used means of food control systems. The confidence of consumers in the safety and quality of their food supply depends in part on their perception as to the effectiveness of these systems as food control measures. A substantial part of the worldwide trade in food depends upon the use of inspection and certification systems. Following the FAO/WHO Conference on Food Standards, Chemicals in Food and Food Trade in 1991, the Codex Alimentarius Commission undertook the development of guidance documents for governments and other interested parties on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems. This third edition includes texts adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission up to 2007.