LANGUAGE:
IBFAN – International Baby Food Action Network
PLASTIC TREATY FAILS: CAN CODEX CHANGE AND PRIORITISE HUMAN AND PLANETARY HEALTH?
CAC47 – The 47th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC47) was held physically at the Centre International de Conférences (CICG), Geneva, Switzerland from 25 to 30 November 2024.
The Global Plastics treaty failed to reach a consensus in Busan, Republic of Korea on Sunday, 1st December.(1) The day before, the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC47), the WHO/FAO global food standards setting body, ended its meeting in Geneva, with several countries, especially from South East Asia, still asking for standards that would help them promote plastic-wrapped, synthetic, additive-laden ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and supplements. These products replace the traditional bio-diverse foods that humans have eaten for millennia.
The European Union (a major exporter of baby foods) as usual called for strict safety and composition standards and a One Health approach (optimising the health of people, animals and ecosystems). As one of the few public health NGO observers, IBFAN called on Codex to address the Triple Planetary Crisis (climate change, pollution and bio-diversity loss) strengthen its transparency, conflict of interest safeguards and ensure that all Codex standards are in line with WHO recommendations.
In response to our calls over many years, many Codex meetings are at last being webcast. However CAC47 could not reach consensus on web-casting of the Codex Executive Committee. We reminded the Committee that it makes no sense to claim to be ‘transparent’ and then conduct key meetings in private.
It remains to be seen whether the new Codex Strategic Plan for 2026-2031, spear-headed by the brave out-going Codex Chair, Steve Wearne from the UK, will meaningfully address these wider issues. One thing for sure, governments need to pay attention and ensure that health delegates who are well informed on these cross-cutting issues and properly represented.
Emergencies, digital technology and baby foods on the Codex:
"Our maternity hospitals were flooded with breastmilk substitutes brought in by humanitarian aid agencies. This nearly destryed our breastfeeding programmes."
Dr. Anahit Demirchian, Chief of the National Programme of Promotion and protection of Breastfeeding, Armenia, 1996.
Infant Feeding in Emergencies, WEMOS/GIFA 2001
- Food for Emergencies. After getting only minimal safeguards to stop commercial exploitation into a new proposal from the USA that will allow exemptions on labelling of foods for emergencies, we called for it to be reconsidered and sent back to the Labelling Committee. Ghana also expressed concern but did not ask for the proposal to be returned. While flexibility (on country of origin etc) may be needed to allow delivery of essential products, if baby feeding products are idealised or if warnings and instructions for use are unclear or in the wrong language, it can literally be a matter of life or death for young children. Meanwhile corporations and donors enjoy an undeserved humanitarian ‘halo”effect. In emergencies, child deaths can be two to 70 times higher than the average rate. Declaring an emergency is a politically sensitive issue and it is a matter of record that the commercial exploitation of emergencies has opened up markets for inappropriate products and undermined breastfeeding. (2)
- E-commerce and Technology We also tried to strengthen new guidelines on e-commerce and labelling through technology in order to protect privacy, prevent the harvesting of personal data and stop digital labelling leading purchasers to inappropriate material.(3)
- New standard on baby foods. CAC47 agreed that this new standard should go ahead. The old canned food standard has no limits on sugar and the 2006 baby cereal standard allows up to 30%. We called for the new standard to be in line with WHO recommendations, with all added sugars, sweeteners and synthetic additives removed and strict labelling and marketing safeguards – including digital. Mexico expressed concern that the development of the standard should not lead to the promotion of processed foods as an alternative to resolving nutrition conditions for older infants and young children or lead to replacement of home-based foods or affect the promotion of breastfeeding.
Important statements from IBFAN
Agenda Item 5: Labelling Exemptions in Emergencies
Codex Guidelines open the door to commercial exploitation.
Day 3 – 27/11/2024
Original video excerpt from the official Codex Alimentarius Channel.
Agenda Item 5: New Codex standard on baby foods
IBFAN calls for strict safeguards in line with WHO so marketing does not undermine breastfeeding and normal bio-diverse family foods.
Day 3 – 27/11/2024
Original video excerpt from the official Codex Alimentarius Channel.
Agenda Item 12: WHO FAO report
IBFAN welcomes WHO’s work and clarifies that nothing forces mothers to breastfeed. Expresses caution and marketing safeguards on new cell-based formulas that mimmick human milk.
Day 4 – 28/11/2024
Original video excerpt from the official Codex Alimentarius Channel.
Agenda Item 13: Potential webcasting of Executive meeting
IBFAN reminds Codex that it cannot claim to be transparent, then keep important meetings private.
Day 4 – 28/11/2024
Original video excerpt from the official Codex Alimentarius Channel.
Side Event on Labelling
IBFAN highlights the risks of weak Codex standards on national policy setting and the need for more health advocates. Codex also needs to help governments control UPFs.
Side Event – 29/11/2024
Original video excerpt from the official Codex Alimentarius Channel.
Codex Photos Copyright: © FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius
CAC47
Codex Alimentarius Commission
Information Notes for Delegates
For more information, visit the official website at FAO – CAC47
Source: FAO, accessed on 09.12.2024
Notes:
(1) IBFAN’s briefing outlines how babies, young children and their mothers are most at risk from the toxic chemicals contained in plastics
(2) The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) was established by FAO and WHO to protect consumer health and promote fair practices in food trade – two conflicting objectives. Codex meetings where the recipes, rules and standards that form the basis of national legislation are devised, very often take place away from close public scrutiny. Because of the dominance of agri-food corporations and the powerful exporting nations, it’s almost inevitable that trade takes precedence over health.
Weak Codex standards have been regularly used in attempts to stop governments bringing in strong marketing controls. with interventions made at the WTO concerning commercial milk formula marketing, labelling or safety testing regulations of another member state, wrongly treating Codex standards as a ‘regulatory ceiling’ for trade purposes. In fact, governments have the sovereign right to adopt any legislation they consider necessary to protect child health as long as it does not violate international trade principles,
(2) Guideline on the application of food labelling provisions in emergencies. IBFAN comment (CAC47/CRD51) called for a reference to the Code of Ethics for International Trade in Food including Concessional and Food Aid, Transactions(CXC 20-1979) that states: “National authorities… should also make sure that the International Code of Marketing of BreastMilk Substitutes and relevant resolutions of the World Health Assembly (WHA) … be observed” The draft should also refer to the Operational Guidance on Infant Feeding in Emergencies(OG-IFE) version 3.0 (Oct 2017). Click here for more
(3) Digital marketing is now the predominant source of exposure to misinformation on baby feeding products with enormous cross border extent and power and Brazil is leading many countries in calling for a new World Health Assembly Resolution to regulate the digital marketing of breast-milk substitutes.
- For more about why Codex needs to be more serious about tackling the ‘Triple Planetary Crisis’. IBFAN’s briefing for the Global Plastics Treaty explains why babies and young children are so at risk from Plastic. HERE
- To find out why IBFAN has followed Codex so closely over the years see this Compilation of Blogs and Press releases
- Codex Photos Copyright:© FAO/Roberto Sciotti
