Völkerrechtliche Texte der FAO

• Codex Alimentarius Commission:  international food standards, guidelines and codes of practice contribute to the safety, quality and fairness of this international food trade. Consumers can trust the safety and quality of the food products they buy and importers can trust that the food they ordered will be in accordance with their specifications (1962)
  • While being recommendations for voluntary application by members, Codex standards serve in many cases as a basis for national legislation
  • The reference made to Codex food safety standards in the World Trade Organizations’ Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures (SPS Agreement) means that Codex has far reaching implications for resolving trade disputes. WTO members that wish to apply stricter food safety measures than those set by Codex may be required to justify these measures scientifically.
  • List of standards and guidelines (a lot!)
    • Examples: Standard for Quick Frozen Lobsters; Standard for Canned Strawberries

=> Der Codex Alimentarius ist ein “Soft Law”-Instrument und ist somit nicht bindend. Der Codex umfasst eine Liste wissenschaftlicher Richtlinien und Standards, die Staaten als Bezugsstandards für nationale Gesetztgebung und NGOs und Verbraucherschützern als international anerkannte Richtlinien dienen sollten.

Kurzübersicht:

• Detaillierte Standards zu Lebensmittelsicherheit, allerdings ohne Rechtsverbindlichkeit
• Freillige Refernzstandards für Staaten zur nationalen Gesetzgebung
• Kontrollstandards für NGOs und Verbraucherschützer
• Keine institutionellen Sanktionsmechanismen
• Indirekte Kontrollmechanismen
  • “naming and shaming”
  • WTO Handelssanktionen durch SPS Agreement:
    “Any non Codex-compliant nation would face huge economic punishment since they would automatically lose in any food-trade dispute with a Codex compliant country” (Natural Solutions Foundation)
• Sehr breiter Wirkungsbereich (99% der Weltbevölkerung)
• Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (1998) only “promotes shared responsibilities”

• International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (in Kraft getreten 2004) – Einführung hier

• Agreement on a proposal  proposal to develop a legally binding measure to tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing practices, which cause severe economic, social, biological and environmental damage (2007)