As part of measures to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in food trade, the St Vincent and the Grenadines Bureau of Standards (SVGBS) has recruited fifteen representatives from various agencies here to form a National Codex Committee.{{more}}

The committee comprises representatives of the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Trade and Consumer Affairs and representatives from other organizations with experience in the food sector, as well as regulatory and consumer bodies.

The committee is mandated to act as a consultative body to the government and industries, in formulating national standards for food and food-related products.

Speaking at the official launching on Monday, Director of the Standards Bureau Ezra Ledger explained that the committee will also oversee the implementation of standards established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Codex Alimentarius.

“At the end of the day, what we have to recognize is that we are not going to invent the wheel.

“The committee will generally have to be standard takers, because if the international community prepares the standard, and say look, this is the standard, or this is a draft, then we have to scientifically do our research and investigations in order for it to be accepted,” according to Ledger.

The members of the National Codex Committee are: Interim Chairperson: Ezra D. Ledger; Committee Members: Dr Colleen Phillips (Chairperson National Standards Council); Bernadette Slater-Peters (SVG Home Economics Association); Janice P. King (Ministry of Trade); Dr Kathyian Herbert-Hackshaw (Animal Health and Production Division); Andrea Robin (Nutrition Unit); Michael Dalton (Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA); Wendy Michael (Home Farm Management Unit); Rupert Doyle (Public Health Department); Dr Gregory Robin (Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI); Marcus Richards (Plant Protection and Quarantine Unit); Dr Lucille Grant (Fisheries Division); Neri James (Public Health Department).

Secretariat: Haydeen Charles (Technical Secretary) and Jennifer Douglas-Bullock (SVG Bureau of Standards).

Established in 1963 by the FAO and WHO, the Codex Alimentarius Commission also promotes coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organizations.