Staffers from the USDA will travel to Surfers' Paradise in Queensland, Australia, to participate in a meeting of the Codex Alimentarius, Nov. 26 – 30. Why? To continue developing international rules and regulations that govern what you eat.
USDA says "The Codex Alimentarius Commission was established in 1963 by two United Nations organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO, and the World Health Organization, or WHO. Through adoption of food standards, codes of practice and other guidelines developed by its committees, and by promoting their adoption and implementation by governments, Codex seeks to protect the health of consumers and ensure that fair practices are used in trade."
Among the several interesting agenda items is this: "Discussion Paper on the Need for Further Guidance on Traceability/Product Tracing."
This is U.N.-speak for "let's tighten the regulations on animal identification and trace-back." This item has been on the Codex agenda for several years now. Whether the USDA took the idea of animal identification to the Codex, or brought the idea home from a Codex meeting, cannot be determined for certain. What is certain is this: The idea was cultivated by the members of the National Institute for Animal Agriculture, consisting of organizations ...   more »