Codex Alimentarius Commission
The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) is an international food standards body established jointly by the Food and Agriculture organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in May 1963 with the objective of protecting consumer’s health and ensuring fair practices in food trade.
The Agreement on Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) recognizes Codex standards, guidelines and recommendations as reference standards for international trade and trade dispute settlement. Currently the Codex Alimentarius Commission has 189 Codex Members made up of 188 Member. Countries and 1 Member Organization (The European Union). India became the member of Codex Alimentarius in 1964. For more information, please visit http://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/en/ The list of Codex standards and other texts can be accessed from http://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/codex-texts/en/
CCASIA (Regional Coordinating Committee for Asia)
CCASIA is one of the 6 Regional Coordinating Committees established by Codex Alimentarius Commission, which meets every two years. 24 countries of the Asian region, including Bhutan are the members of this Committee. The main objective of CCASIA is to promote mutual communication among the Asian members as well as to develop regional standards for certain food products. India is the current Coordinator for CCASIA, originally being elected in July 2015 and re-elected in July 2017 by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
More details on CCASIA can be found here (http://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/committees/codex-regions/ccasia/about/en/)
Codex (Bhutan)
“Codex (Bhutan)” is comprised of the NCC, NCCP, Codex-sub-committee & Codex (Bhutan) Secretariat. BAFRA, under Ministry of Agriculture and Forests has been functioning as the National Codex Contact Point since 2003. The National Codex Committee (NCC) was established in 2005 through the Food Act of Bhutan 2005 and its Regulation 2017. The NCC with broad representation of national experts from relevant agencies serves as the technical advisory body for food safety, quality and Technical Regulations/standards.
The functioning of Codex (Bhutan) is detailed in the procedural manual.
- NCC-Bhutan & Codex Sub-Committees
“National Codex Committee of Bhutan (NCC-Bhutan)” is a technical advisory body responsible for providing technical opinion on food safety issues in Bhutan and coordination of Codex programme at the national level. The National Codex Committee was established in 2005 through the Food Act of Bhutan 2005 and its Regulations (2017). The National Codex Committee (NCC) of Bhutan has broad representation of national experts from relevant agencies, and serves as the highest technical advisory body for food safety, quality and standards. The NCC is also empowered to establish temporary Codex Sub-Committees to assist in discharging their mandates.
- NCCP-Bhutan
“National Codex Contact Point of Bhutan (NCCP-Bhutan)” is the central coordination point for all Codex activities within the country. BAFRA is primarily responsible to ensure food safety and prevent foodborne diseases, both of which are of importance to national and international public health. BAFRA shall maintain contact with the CAC, exchange of information, responding to queries, participate in meetings and activities as outlined in the Codex Alimentarius Commission procedural manual.
- Codex (Bhutan) Secretariat
The Codex (Bhutan) Secretariat office is established in BAFRA to assist the works of NCC, NCCP and Codex Sub-Committees. The Secretariat is managed by 5 secretariat members led by Focal Officer for Codex (Bhutan).