The Codex Alimentarius Commission I. The Codex Alimentarius Commission: some critical issues in two paradigmatic cases At its 21 st Session, in July 1995, the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) approved a stan- dard concerning the maximum levels of residues for five growth-promoting hormones and for bovine Somatropine in meat. The decision was made after a secret majority vote and the standard was approved with 33 delegates in favour, 29 opposing and 7 abstaining. 1 The European Communities opposed that standard but lost their battle. And it was only the beginning of a long “food-trade war”. In 1996, the USA and Canada contested, in front of a Panel of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the WTO, the European ban on meat treated with hor- mones. 2 Despite the dispute still not being com- pletely ended, 3 the Appellate Body (AB) issued its decision in 1998, condemning the EC to lift the ban: the Communities did not provide adequate scientific evidence that the hormones were really dangerous for human health, as it is requested by * Dario Bevilacqua is PHD Candidate in Administrative Law, University of Rome, „La Sapienza“. 1 Codex Alimentarius Commission, Report of the 21st Session, List of Standards and Related Texts Adopted by the 21st Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, ALINORM 95/37 (8 July 1995). 2 EC – Measures Concerning Meat and Meat Products, WTO Appellate Body Report 1998, WT/DS 48/AB/R, www.wto.org. 3 At the DSB meeting on 7 November 2003, the EC stated that fol- lowing the entering into force of its new Directive (2003/74/EC) regarding the prohibition on the use in stock-farming of certain hormones, there was no legal basis for the continued imposition of retaliatory measures by Canada and the US. At the DSB meeting on 1 December 2003, the EC stated that: in light of the disagreement between the parties to the dispute with regard to the EC’s compliance with the DSB’s recommendations, the matter should be referred to the WTO for a multilateral decision. After that, a panel was created, in order to make a deci- sion on the subject: United States – Continued Suspension of Obligations in the EC – Hormones Dispute – (WT/DS320/8) – Canada – Continued Suspension of Obligations in the EC – Hor- mones Dispute (WT/DS321)/8, WTO, Geneva, 2 August 2005, www.wto.org. EFFL 1|2006 3 The Codex Alimentarius Commission and its Influence on European and National Food Policy Dario Bevilacqua* Starting from the analysis of EC-Hormones and EC-Biotech cases in front of the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization, the article will consider the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), its legal nature and organisation, the way it issues international food standards and their impact on European food poli- cy. The analysis will stress the legal force of CAC standards in its member states through the application of WTO law and it will underline the most critical aspects of Codex decision-making, above all due to the lack of application of constitutional and administrative principles (used in national countries to limit the powers of domestic authorities and to guarantee public accountability). International regula- tory regimes, such as the Codex, issue standards with a quasi binding effect for the national states legislation and in particular for their citizens: How objective are these decisions? Are they exclusively scientific? What if science cannot provide an unequivocal and objective answer? How are consumers/citizens’ represented? How can we make present global governance more democratic? The article will try to give answers to these questions.