2023 survey for Members on the use and impact of Codex texts launched

The Codex Secretariat launched today the second survey to measure the use and impact of Codex texts. Building on the lessons learned and the success of the 2022 survey, this year the survey focuses on the General Standard for Food Additives, Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling, Recommended Methods of Analysis and Sampling, and Guidelines on Performance Criteria for Methods of Analysis for the Determination of Pesticide Residues in Food and Feed.Countries are urged to complete the survey by 25 October 2023.

“It is important for us to hear your thoughts and concerns. Do Codex texts address your country’s needs? I encourage all Members to participate”, said Steve Wearne, Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

Last year, 98 of Codex's 189 Members (52%) responded to the survey, where 46 replies came from high-income countries and 52 from low- and middle-income countries. Over 80 percent of respondents noted that they are satisfied with Codex texts and use them as a baseline to inform food legislation, policies, regulations, programmes, and practices at the national level. Codex texts are also being used to facilitate a common understanding of food safety and quality.

“We thank all Codex Contact Points (CCPs) who will contribute to this survey: your commitment to information collection and sharing is crucial in improving food standards and food safety continuously”, said Farid El Haffar, Codex Secretariat Officer in charge of the survey.

Each Codex Member Country should answer the survey, which means one response per country. Codex Contact Points are encouraged to coordinate with the key stakeholders in their country through their normal channels, which could include convening the National Codex Committee or team. The survey data will be aggregated, and analysis will be conducted at the global and regional levels to determine trends. No individual country responses will be shared.

Crucial in improving food standards and food safety

The Codex Secretariat conducts a yearly survey for all Codex Members to measure the use and impact of Codex texts. Mandated to monitor this topic through the Codex Strategic Plan 2020-2025, in 2021, the Secretariat, in collaboration with FAO and WHO evaluation offices, began developing a mechanism to explore issues such as accessibility, relevance and credibility concerning Codex standards.

The 2022 survey served as the pilot for this new endeavour. A report compiling and analyzing the results of that survey will be launched on 3 October 2023, during the Codex Committee on General Principles.

Learn more

For more information about the survey please click here

General Standard for Food Additives

Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling

Recommended Methods of Analysis and Sampling

Guidelines on Performance Criteria for Methods of Analysis for the Determination of Pesticide Residues in Food and Feed

Factsheet on Second online survey – use and impact of Codex texts (AR, EN, FR, RU, SP, ZH)