Assuring food safety: the complementary tasks and standards of the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of the World Trade Organization specifically recognises the international standards developed by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). OIE standards focus on animal health and zoonoses and those of the CAC on food safety, but since zoonoses can affect food safety, it is vital that the two organisations cooperate closely to avoid duplication of effort, gaps and conflicting standards. The OIE has established an Animal Production Food Safety Working Group to promote cooperation with the CAC and to act as a steering committee for the OIE's work programme on the development of standards aimed at protecting consumers from foodborne hazards arising from animals at the production level of the food chain. This paper describes briefly how standards are developed by the OIE and the CAC and gives examples of how the tasks and standards of the two organisations complement each other in helping to assure food safety. The areas covered include meat hygiene, the identification and traceability of live animals, model certificates for international trade, antimicrobial resistance, veterinary drugs, animal feed, and salmonellosis.