CAC49 / The Road to the 49th Commission Meeting

24 June 2026, US: The 49th session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) is just around the corner and, with it, a swathe of new texts that are up for adoption, together with revisions of and amendments to existing Codex texts.

CAC will meet in Geneva 6–10 July where its 189 Members and 246 Observer Organizations will discuss not only the adoption of work agreed in the seven committee meetings on the agenda, but also new work proposals, the status of work of the Joint Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR)/ Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in food (CCRVDF) electronic working group on dual-use compounds, and the use of country of harvest in food labelling of spices. The Commission meeting will also wrap up the work of the 2024–2025 biennium by discussing the implementation report of the Codex Alimentarius Commission Strategic plan 2020–2025 and the final report of 2024–2025 budgetary and financial matters. There will also be a closing report of the Codex Trust Fund.

The Codex work that is up for adoption includes:

From the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH), which met for the 8th time in Guwahati, Assam, India 13–17 October 2025

• Standard for spices derived from dried or dehydrated fruits and berries – vanilla 
• Standard for spices in the form of dried fruits and berries – large cardamom 
• Standard for spices in the form of dried seeds – coriander 

From the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH), which met for the 55th time in Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America 15–19 December 2025

• Revision of the Code of practice on food allergen management for food business operators (CXC 80-2020) 
• Completion of Guidelines for the safe use and reuse of water in food production and processing (CXG 100-2023)
• Revision of Guidelines for the control of Taenia saginata in meat of domestic cattle (CXG 85-2014) 
• Revision of Guidelines for the control of Trichinella spp. in meat of suidae (CXG 86-2015) 
• Revision of Guidelines on the application of general principles of food hygiene to the control of foodborne parasites (CXG 88-2016) 
• Revisions to Guidelines for the control of Campylobacter and Salmonella in chicken meat (CXG 78-2011) 
• Revision of Guidelines on the application of general principles of food hygiene to the control of Listeria monocytogenes in foods (CXG 61-2007) 

From the Codex Committee on Fats and Oils (CCFO), which met for the 29th time in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 9–13 February 2026

• Revision of List of Acceptable Previous Cargoes in the Code of practice for the storage and transport of edible fats and oils in bulk (CXC 36-1987) 

From the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS), which met for the 45th time in Budapest, Hungary 9–13 March 2026

• Updates to Recommended methods of analysis and sampling (CXS 234-1999) 

From the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Food (CCRVDF), which met for the 28th time in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America 23–27 March 2026

• MRLs extrapolated to camelids:
  • Ivermectin – milk 
  • Tetracyclines (chlortetracycline, oxytetracycline, and tetracycline) – muscle, liver, kidney, milk 
• Guidelines on recommended risk-based actions to address the detection of residues of a veterinary drug in food caused by unavoidable and unintentional carryover of veterinary drugs in animal feed, where there is no applicable Codex MRL, and related action levels for lasalocid and nicarbazin in chicken eggs 

From the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA), which met for the 56th time in Chongqing, China 13–17 April 2026

• Amendment to List of Codex specifications for food additives (CXA 6-2025) 
• Update to the General standard for food additives (GSFA, CXS 192-1995) 
• Revision of Class names and the international numbering system for food additives (CXG 36- 1989) 
• Standard for bakers’ yeast 

From the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL), which met for the 49th time in Ottawa, Canada 11–15 May 2026

• Additions to General standard for the labelling of pre-packaged foods (CXS 1-1985)
  • guidelines on the use of precautionary allergen labelling 
  • provisions relevant to joint presentation and multipack formats 
• Guidelines on application of food labelling provisions in emergencies 

Complete details on the provisional agenda, working documents, and instructions on how to follow the plenary sessions virtually can be found on the official meeting page below.

Also Read: EU Mandates Digital Labels for Plant Protection Products from 2028

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