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International Aspects of Food Legislation
The International Organisations

There are several organisations involved in international food standards work. In this module we consider the 3 key ones

* the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
* the World Health Organisation (WHO)
* the World Trade Organsation (WTO)

In this first section of Lecture 3 we take a look at the basic structure and objectives of these three and you are introduced to their web sites.

The FAO

The following is an extract from the FAO pages:

The Food and Agriculture Organization was founded in October 1945 with a mandate to raise levels of nutrition and standards of living, to improve agricultural productivity, and to better the condition of rural populations.

Today, FAO is the largest autonomous agency within the United Nations system with 180 Member Nations plus the EC (Member Organization) and more than 4 300 staff members around the world. Following recent efforts to decentralize, FAO"s staff includes almost 2 300 people at Headquarters and more than 2 000 working at decentralized offices and field projects. The Organization"s 1998-1999 biennial budget is set at $650 million and FAO-assisted projects attract more than $300 million per year from donor agencies and governments for investment in agricultural and rural development projects.

The following is a summary of the key dates in the development of the FAO (again taken from the FAO pages):

* 1943 - Forty-four governments, meeting in Hot Springs, Virginia, United States, commit themselves to founding a permanent organization for food and agriculture
* 1945 - First session of FAO Conference, Quebec City, Canada, establishes FAO as a specialized United Nations agency
* 1951 - FAO headquarters moved to Rome from Washington, DC
* 1960 - Freedom from Hunger Campaign launched to mobilize non-governmental support
* 1962 - The FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission established to set international food standards becomes operational
* 1974 - UN World Food Conference in Rome recommends the adoption of an International Undertaking on World Food Security
* 1976 - FAO"s Technical Cooperation Programme established to afford greater flexibility in responding to urgent situations
* 1980 - FAO concludes 56 agreements for the appointment of FAO Representatives in developing member countries
* 1981 - The first World Food Day observed on 16 October by more than 150 countries -
* 1986 - AGROSTAT, the world"s most comprehensive source of agricultural information and statistics goes operational
* 1991 - International Plant Protection Convention is ratified with 92 signatories
* 1995 - FAO celebrates its 50th birthday
* 1996 - FAO to host 194 Heads of State or Government at World Food Summit in November to discuss and combat world hunger

The main food control activities of the FAO are within the �Economic and Social Department� (ES). That Department is then split with one Division known as the �Food and Nutrition Division� - within that Division is the Food Quality and Standards Service (given the abbreviation �ESNS� for reference purposes.

WEB MATERIAL:

* For more details, explore the following pages: The FAO Home Page is at: http://www.fao.org/ Follow the link to "Economics and Nutrition" and then "Food Quality and Safety". This is then the page for the FAO Food and Nutrition Division. The direct link is: http://www.fao.org/es/ESN/index_en.stm
* Another interesting set of pages can be found at the on-line pages of the Journal �Food, Nutrition and Agriculture�. The index is at: http://www.fao.org/es/esn/publications/fna/index.jsp?lang=en

The WHO

The following is an extract from the WHO pages:

Objectives and functions

WHO is defined by its Constitution as the directing and coordinating authority on international health work, its aim "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health". The following are listed among its responsibilities:

* to assist governments, upon request, in strengthening health services;
* to establish and maintain such administrative and technical services as may be required, including epidemiological and statistical services;
* to provide information, counsel, and assistance in the field of health;
* to stimulate the eradication of epidemic, endemic, and other diseases;
* to promote improved nutrition, housing, sanitation, working conditions, and other aspects of environmental hygiene;
* to promote cooperation among scientific and professional groups which contribute to the enhancement of health;
* to propose international conventions and agreements on health matters; � to promote and conduct research in the field of health;
* to develop international standards for food, biological and pharmaceutical products; and,
* to assist in developing an informed public opinion among all peoples on matters of health.

The WHO have defined �Health� as �a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.�

WEB MATERIAL:

* For more details, explore the following pages WHO Home page: http://www.who.int/
* The WHO Food Safety Programme home page is at: http://www.who.int/foodsafety/en/ and there is another useful page with links at: http://www.who.int/health_topics/food_safety/en/
* There are several useful WHO food safety documents on line. The index page is at: http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/en/ You could look at the document with the following title: "WHO global strategy for food safety: safer food for better health". It can be downloaded from: http://www.who.int/entity/foodsafety/publications/general/en/strategy_en.pdf

The WTO

The following is an extract from the WTO pages:

The World Trade Organization came into being in 1995. One of the youngest of the international organizations, the WTO is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) established in the wake of the Second World War.

So while the WTO is still young, the multilateral trading system that was originally set up under GATT is already 50 years old. The system celebrated its golden jubilee in Geneva on 19 May 1998, with many heads of state and government leaders attending.

The past 50 years have seen an exceptional growth in world trade. Merchandise exports grew on average by 6% annually. Total trade in 1997 was 14-times the level of 1950. GATT and the WTO have helped to create a strong and prosperous trading system contributing to unprecedented growth.

The system was developed through a series of trade negotiations, or rounds, held under GATT. The first rounds dealt mainly with tariff reductions but later negotiations included other areas such as anti-dumping and non-tariff measures. The latest round � the 1986�94 Uruguay Round � led to the WTO�s creation.

The negotiations did not end there. Some continued after the end of the Uruguay Round. In February 1997 agreement was reached on telecommunications services, with 69 governments agreeing to wide-ranging liberalization measures that went beyond those agreed in the Uruguay Round.

WEB MATERIAL:

* For more details, explore the following pages The main WTO Home page is at: http://www.wto.org/ They have spent a lot of effort in providing background information on the WTO. Have a look at �The WTO In Brief� at: http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/inbrief_e/inbr00_e.htm
* The full legal texts relating to the establishment of the WTO can be found by following the link to �Documents� at the top of the WTO home page and then going to �Legal Texts�. Here you will find a further link to "The Uruguay Round Final Act: full texts" where there is a long list of documents that can be viewed. The link is http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/final_e.htm. No real need to look at them now, but they might be useful to you one day.
* There is a useful WTO Organisation Chart at: http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/org2_e.htm Food issues are considered by the �Council for Trade in Goods�. At this stage, notice the Committees relating to �Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures� and �Technical Barriers to Trade� listed under this Council (more on these later in this lecture)

© D.J.Jukes