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Only a Footnote? The Curious Codex Battle for Control of Additive Regulations

Chris Downes


In recent years, a controversial footnote has been included in many additive provisions of the Codex Alimentarius General Standard for Food Additives (GSFA). Codex members perceive Note 161, referring to national legislation, to exempt domestic measures from the intended disciplines of Codex standards. Its principal advocates, the EU, believe that Note 161 is necessary where the GSFA has failed to take account of basic principles governing the appropriate use of additives. Critics view it to undermine the standardsetting body’s harmonisation goals and give rise to trade barriers. This article explains the upset around Note 161 and examines, in the context of World Trade Organization (WTO) law, whether the footnote has the implications negotiators assume. It also reflects on the EU’s need for recourse to this note to defend its food additive regulations.

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