14.4 International food standards and trade regulations

International Food Standards

International food standards create a shared set of rules so that food is safe and honestly labeled no matter where it's produced or sold. Without them, every country would have completely different requirements, making global trade chaotic and leaving consumers unprotected. Three major bodies shape these standards: the Codex Alimentarius Commission, EFSA, and FSANZ.

Trade regulations, governed primarily by WTO agreements, balance food safety with fair trade practices. SPS measures and TBT agreements help countries maintain their own safety standards without creating unnecessary barriers to trade. Import/export regulations tie everything together by ensuring compliance at the border.

Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC)

The Codex Alimentarius Commission is the single most influential body in international food standards. Established in 1963 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), its purpose is to develop food standards, guidelines, and codes of practice that protect consumer health and promote fair trade.

• Consists of 189 member countries plus the European Union as a member organization
• Covers a wide range of topics: food hygiene, food additives, pesticide and veterinary drug residues, contaminants, labelling, and methods of analysis and sampling
• Codex standards are technically voluntary, but they carry real weight because the WTO uses them as reference points when settling trade disputes. Many countries also adopt Codex standards directly into their national legislation.

Think of Codex as the international baseline. A country can set stricter standards, but if challenged in a trade dispute, it needs scientific justification for going beyond what Codex recommends.

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

EFSA is the EU's independent scientific advisory body on risks related to the food chain. It doesn't set regulations itself; instead, it provides the risk assessments that EU policymakers rely on when writing food law.

• Conducts risk assessments on food and feed safety, nutrition, animal health and welfare, plant protection, and plant health
• Publishes scientific opinions, reports, and guidance documents that directly support EU legislation
• Plays a key role in authorizing regulated products such as food additives, enzymes, flavorings, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
• Collaborates with national authorities across EU member states and with international organizations to collect and analyze scientific data

The distinction matters: EFSA does the science, while the European Commission and member states make the regulatory decisions based on that science.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ)

FSANZ is a bi-national government agency that develops and administers the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. This code sets standards for food safety, composition, labelling, and contaminants for all food sold in Australia and New Zealand.

• Conducts risk assessments, monitors food safety incidents, and provides food safety advice to consumers and industry
• Works with state and territory food enforcement agencies, public health units, and the food industry to ensure compliance
• Engages with international organizations (Codex Alimentarius, APEC) to harmonize food standards and facilitate trade across the Asia-Pacific region

FSANZ is a good example of how two countries can share a single food standards framework, reducing duplication and making cross-border trade between them much simpler.

Trade Regulations and Agreements

World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements

The WTO is the intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade between nations. Two WTO agreements are especially relevant to food trade:

• SPS Agreement (Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures): Sets rules for how countries can apply food safety and animal/plant health regulations. Countries can set their own standards, but those standards must be based on science and risk assessment.
• TBT Agreement (Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade): Ensures that technical regulations, standards, and conformity assessment procedures don't create unnecessary obstacles to trade.

Both agreements require transparency: member countries must notify the WTO of any proposed changes to food regulations that may affect trade and provide a reasonable comment period for other countries to respond.

Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures

SPS measures are government actions designed to protect human, animal, or plant life from risks in food, beverages, or feedstuffs. These risks include additives, contaminants, toxins, and disease-causing organisms.

Concrete examples of SPS measures:

• Restricting imports from regions affected by animal diseases like avian influenza
• Setting maximum residue limits (MRLs) for pesticides on produce
• Requiring specific food hygiene practices for imported products

Three core rules govern SPS measures:

1. They must be based on scientific principles and risk assessment
2. They can only be applied to the extent necessary to protect health
3. They must not discriminate between countries where similar conditions exist

Countries must also recognize equivalence: if an exporting country can demonstrate that its different SPS measures achieve the same level of protection, the importing country should accept them. This prevents countries from using safety rules as disguised trade barriers.

Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)

TBT refers to non-tariff barriers that arise from technical regulations, standards, and conformity assessment procedures. In the food sector, these show up as:

• Labelling requirements (nutrition facts panels, allergen declarations, country of origin)
• Packaging standards (materials, sizes, recycling symbols)
• Certification procedures for specialty products (organic certification, halal certification)

The TBT Agreement encourages countries to use international standards (from Codex, ISO, and similar bodies) as the basis for their technical regulations. This reduces the chance that unique national requirements will block trade unnecessarily. As with SPS measures, countries must notify the WTO of proposed changes and allow time for comment from trading partners.

Import/Export Regulations

Every country maintains its own regulations governing food imports and exports. These ensure that food entering the country meets domestic safety, quality, and labelling standards.

Common import requirements include:

• Proper food labelling in the local language
• Compliant packaging
• Certificates (health certificates, phytosanitary certificates) issued by the exporting country's authorities
• Border inspections and sampling

Exporters bear the responsibility of complying with the importing country's regulations, which may mean obtaining specific certifications, permits, or meeting product standards that differ from their home country's rules.

Trade agreements can simplify this process significantly by reducing tariffs, harmonizing standards, and streamlining customs procedures. These agreements operate at different scales:

• Regional: The EU Single Market (free movement of goods among member states)
• Bilateral/Multilateral: The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA, which replaced NAFTA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)

The more aligned two countries' food standards are, the easier and cheaper it is to trade food products between them. That's ultimately why international harmonization efforts through Codex and the WTO matter so much.