The Ministerial segment of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) meets this week, to review progress on a cluster of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) was one of the entities invited by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to submit information for this review, in an indication of the impact Codex work has at a global level. The request for information underlines the significance of Codex work to the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030.

The HLPF is the central United Nations platform for the follow-up and review of the SDGs at the global level. Each year, this review considers progress towards a different set of SDGs and invites a range of intergovernmental bodies to submit information. This year’s discussions are held under the theme “Reinforcing the 2030 Agenda and eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises: the effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions.” Discussions this year will focus on:

Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.

The intergovernmental bodies were asked to detail how multiple crises around the world have impacted on their work in relation to these SDGs. They also had to identify key areas where sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions for achieving the SDGs are being effectively delivered with “examples of specific actions, policies and measures that are most urgently needed” to achieve the goals. Of the goals identified, Codex work particularly helps countries achieve Goals 2 and 17 by providing guidance on keeping food safe and through its collaborative, transparent, inclusive and consensus-driven processes. Improved livelihood opportunities that are created when countries implement Codex texts also contribute to Goal 1. Increasingly, too, CAC is responding to the emerging issues related to Goal 13.

On behalf of CAC, the Codex Secretariat submitted that the global challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict and climate change are all impacting food safety and the food trade in multiple and complex ways. The current Codex strategic plan specifically calls on the body to address “current, emerging and critical issues”, which includes the multiple crises the world is currently facing. These crises have impacted both on the processes of Codex work and on the substance of that work.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which threatened to severely restrict the work of Codex, concentrated efforts to embrace innovations in communication technologies to ensure Codex meetings could continue. The more effectively a country can participate in Codex, the more it will reap the SDG-related benefits Codex texts can have. Codex’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent move to a virtual mode of meeting has benefitted poorer countries that are unable to afford a physical or significant physical attendance at meetings. Recognition of this benefit has led to a review on how to maximize it for the future.

Codex’s response to these crises is also apparent in the standards that have been developed and issues that have been prioritized. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted Members’ resources when it came to food inspection and certification, particularly for trade purposes, and highlighted the need for more digital and non-contact approaches. It thus precipitated the completion of guidance on paperless use of electronic certificates. The revised Guidelines for Design, Production, Issuance and Use of Generic Official Certificates text was adopted by CAC in December 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic also served as a catalyst for the completion of work on remote audit and inspection to support the continuity of the food supply chain.

Codex work is integral to achieving an equitable, fair and harmonized framework for the global trade in safe food – and, as such, is vital to the success of the SDGs

Due to climate change, known food safety hazards are emerging in areas where governments and producers are not familiar with the challenges these pose. In these instances, Codex has been the source of information and guidance that help governments and producers mitigate the impacts on food safety and trade these crises present. Climate change has also been the driver behind new work, including:

• new Codex Guidelines for the Safe Use and Reuse of Water in Food Production and Processing (adopted in December 2023) 
• a new proposed Code of Practice/Guidelines for the Prevention and Reduction of Ciguatera Poisoning (forwarded to CAC47). This is an issue that is increasingly emerging in previously unaffected areas 
• the agreement to start work on revisions to the Guidelines on the Application of General Principles of Food Hygiene to the Control of Pathogenic Vibrio Species in Seafood. A changing climate is blamed for the emergence of highly pathogenic strains of Vibrio spp. and for the predicted expansion of at-risk areas and at-risk populations in the coming decades 
• the new Code of Practice for the Prevention and Reduction of Mycotoxins Contamination in Cassava and Cassava-based Products (adopted in December 2023). The nature and occurrence of mycotoxins in food are shifting in tandem with changes in climate. Countries rely on Codex texts to address this challenge, which is of particular concern across Africa.

Multiple crises are slowly reshaping the agenda within Codex, with Members looking for solutions to these issues and highlighting the need to prioritize them. It is also leading to discussions on a broader range of topics in response to crises, such as the relevance of sustainability to the work of Codex, and if and how guidance on sustainability claims might be approached. The food safety relevance of environmental inhibitors which may be one of the solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the food agriculture sector, is another example. In developing its strategic plan for 2026 to 2031, Codex Members are now considering what else they can do to ensure that the standards being developed are relevant to an evolving global situation and ensuring food remains safe in an environment of diminishing resources.

Specific actions that are needed for Codex to support countries in achieving these goals include urgent, continued, expanded and reinforced support to the Codex Trust Fund and initiatives that support the participation in Codex processes of developing economy countries. Furthermore, the development and implementation of technologies that will harness the benefits of combined virtual and physical participation in Codex will ensure optimum participation in Codex meetings by all, including countries that cannot attend meetings physically due to resource constraints. This includes ensuring equal capacities to host such meetings. Also cited as an urgently needed action for the achievement of these goals was the development of new and existing partnerships to pursue the standards Codex will need to develop in response to a changing global context.

Codex work is integral to achieving an equitable, fair and harmonized framework for the global trade in safe food – and, as such, is vital to the success of the SDGs.

Read more

High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (UN webpage)
Codex and the SDGs (Codex publication)