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The Codex Alimentarius Commission
3
The Codex Alimentarius Commission
and its Influence on European and
National Food Policy
Dario Bevilacqua*
Starting from the analysis of EC-Hormones and EC-Biotech cases in front of the
Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization, the article will consider
the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), its legal nature and organisation, the
way it issues international food standards and their impact on European food poli-
cy. The analysis will stress the legal force of CAC standards in its member states
through the application of WTO law and it will underline the most critical aspects
of Codex decision-making, above all due to the lack of application of constitutional
and administrative principles (used in national countries to limit the powers of
I. The Codex Alimentarius
Commission: some critical issues
in two paradigmatic cases
At its 21 st Session, in July 1995, the Codex
Alimentarius Commission (CAC) approved a stan-
dard concerning the maximum levels of residues
for five growth-promoting hormones and for bovine
Somatropine in meat. The decision was made
after a secret majority vote and the standard was
approved with 33 delegates in favour, 29 opposing
and 7 abstaining.
1
The European Communities
opposed that standard but lost their battle. And it
was only the beginning of a long “food-trade war”.
In 1996, the USA and Canada contested, in front of
a Panel of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the
WTO, the European ban on meat treated with hor-
mones.
2
Despite the dispute still not being com-
pletely ended,
3
the Appellate Body (AB) issued its
decision in 1998, condemning the EC to lift the
ban: the Communities did not provide adequate
scientific evidence that the hormones were really
dangerous for human health, as it is requested by
* Dario Bevilacqua is PHD Candidate in Administrative Law,
University of Rome, „La Sapienza“.
1 Codex Alimentarius Commission, Report of the 21st Session, List
of Standards and Related Texts Adopted by the 21st Session of the
Codex Alimentarius Commission, ALINORM 95/37 (8 July 1995).
2 EC – Measures Concerning Meat and Meat Products, WTO
Appellate Body Report 1998, WT/DS 48/AB/R, .
3 At the DSB meeting on 7 November 2003, the EC stated that fol-
lowing the entering into force of its new Directive (2003/74/EC)
regarding the prohibition on the use in stock-farming of certain
hormones, there was no legal basis for the continued imposition
of retaliatory measures by Canada and the US. At the DSB
meeting on 1 December 2003, the EC stated that: in light of the
disagreement between the parties to the dispute with regard to
the EC’s compliance with the DSB’s recommendations, the
matter should be referred to the WTO for a multilateral
decision. After that, a panel was created, in order to make a deci-
sion on the subject: United States – Continued Suspension of
Obligations in the EC – Hormones Dispute – (WT/DS320/8) –
Canada – Continued Suspension of Obligations in the EC – Hor-
mones Dispute (WT/DS321)/8, WTO, Geneva, 2 August 2005,
.
EFFL
1|2006