INTERNATIONAL – The fifth meeting of the Codex Committee on milk and milk products is taking place this week in Wellington, New Zealand.

The committee is part of Codex Alimentarus, a joint venture between the food and agriculture organisation (FAO) and the world health organisation (WHO), which aims to provide guidance on food safety.

This week’s meeting, attended by 140 international government members and food industry advisors, is expected to call for simplification and streamlining of international dairy export safety standards. Currently, most countries have their own rules. Codex claims that trade would be easier if an international standard could be agreed.

The committee is also expected to discuss amendments to Codex guidelines on cheese standards and proposed spreads standards as well as minimum cheese content for processed cheese.

The meeting is due to finish tomorrow.