Defending Science-Based Decisions at Codex

For the past 20 years, the American Feed Industry Association has been very involved in various committees at the Codex Alimentarius (Codex), which sets international food and feed safety standards that are intended to protect human health and harmonize trade. The AFIA represents the U.S. feed industry at Codex to ensure standards are rooted in science. Although many Codex documents touch on feed, one text is specific to the safety of animal feed, the “Code of Practice on Good Animal Feeding,” sets the international standard for producers and feed to manufacturers to raise their food safety and quality standards, and compete in the global marketplace. The International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released the “Manual of Good Practices for the Feed Industry,” helping those countries without formal feed laws and regulations to meet the Codex code. AFIA provided technical expertise on both texts and continues to engage on relevant Codex work. AFIA works through the government lead, U.S. delegation and the IFIF to preserve the science-based nature of Codex and its standards and processes, on which many countries and the animal food industry depend.