Chris Milton : Independent Journalist & Writer

The Ecologist – Will the UN’s Codex Alimentarius make food less nutritious?

Imagine this: a Nazi war criminal establishes a secretive organisation embedded within the United Nations through which shadowy corporate interests force countries to remove the nutritional value from food, allowing food companies to profit from spreading malnutrition.

It sounds like fantasy but this is the essence of the accusations that have been levelled at the Codex Alimentarius over the years.  This body, whose Latin name means “Food Rules” is indeed run by the United Nations, but beyond that most of the lurid accusations can be rejected out of hand.

However there are countless organisations and agencies which run under the aegis of the United Nations; what makes this one so special that wild myths and theories circulate so abundantly about its true purpose?

Origins

The Codex Alimentarius was established in 1962 as a joint venture between the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Health Organisation. Its aim is to establish internationally agreed food standards in order to protect consumers’ health and facilitate the international food trade.

All but a handful of countries in the world are members, who meet in committees to agree on rules and standards.  These standards are adopted by consensus, meaning every country has an opportunity to disagree and block adoption. NGOs are allowed to speak at meetings, but they have no direct influence upon the outcomes.

The standards the Coded Alimentarius produces are purely voluntary in nature and members may adopt them for internal or international use as they see fit. (more…)

Foreign Policy – The Sand Smugglers,Page 1, Page 2

Plain text version:

The causeway linking Singapore to the southern tip of the Malaysian peninsula is normally clogged with cars and trucks making the short international journey, but things got particularly bad on Feb. 1, when traffic came to a grinding halt. Thirty-seven trucks were abandoned where they stood on the Malaysian side, just yards away from a customs checkpoint, their drivers having simply walked away. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that they were carrying an illegal substance — but not drugs, illegal migrants, or precious jewels. They were carrying sand.

Singapore’s economy quite literally rests upon maintaining a huge and continuous supply of sand — and smuggling has become a multibillion-dollar trade, driving a huge web of corruption and theft in a country renowned for honest business practices and corporal punishment.

The tiny island nation, one of the 20 smallest states in the world, has enjoyed a phenomenal economic boom since the 1980s. In the space of only 30 years its population has doubled and its GDP has exploded by more than 1,000 percent (making it now the wealthiest country in Asia). Singapore’s economic success is largely based upon the phenomenal growth in its services industry. The country has taken advantage of two factors: its ability to process silicon for use in microchips and electronics, and its positioning as a regional business hub within Asia, connecting industrial leaders and business executives from across the continent.

But the boom times have come at a cost. The country has, quite literally, run out of space. Since Singapore’s independence in the 1960s, its land area has grown from 581.5 to 710 square kilometers. By 2030, the country plans to expand by another 70 square kilometers. That would see Singapore’s land area grow 30 percent from its original size, giving it the same area as New York City. (more…)