Codex Alimentarius

The Codex Alimentarius Commission was established in 1963 by the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to develop international food standards to protect consumer health and to facilitate fair trading practices in foods.

Canada's participation in Codex is coordinated through the Office of the Codex Contact Point for Canada, located in the Food Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch of Health Canada. More details on the Codex Alimentarius Commission can be found on the Food Directorate website and on the  Codex Alimentarius Commission website.

The Veterinary Drugs Directorate participates actively in two key groups of Codex: the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods, and the Codex Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance.

Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CX-730)

Host Government: United States

The Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs was established in 1985.

Its mandate is to:

• determine priorities for the consideration of residues of veterinary drugs in foods;
• recommend maximum levels of such substances;
• develop codes of practice as may be required; and
• consider methods of sampling and analysis for the determination of veterinary drug residues in foods.

Ad Hoc Codex Intergovernmental Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance (CX-804)

Host Government: Republic of Korea

The ad hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance was established in July 2006 by the twenty-ninth Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

Its mandate is to develop science based guidance, taking full account of its risk analysis principles and the work and standards of other relevant international organizations, such as FAO, WHO, and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). The intent of this guidance is to assess the risks to human health associated with the presence in food and feed including aquaculture and the transmission through food and feed of antimicrobial resistant microorganisms and antimicrobial resistance genes and to develop appropriate risk management advice based on that assessment to reduce such risk.