The WHO International Health Regulations and the promotion of Food Safety in International Trade

This paper discusses: New food safety challenges posed by the growth of the international food trade, Public health implications of the World Trade Organizations's (WTO) Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), and The role of the World Health Organization's (WHO) International Health Regulation's (IHR) in promoting food safety. The paper reviews various shortcomings of the current leading international agreement in the area of food safety and trade - the WTO SPS agreeme nt - and states that the globalization of the food industry necessitates not only reform of an international trade agreement that protects business interests, but also an international food safety agreement to protect consumer interests. This paper concludes that this need could be served by supporting the revision of the WHO IHRs as they apply to food in international trade. The paper recommends that developed countries should provide the WHO with extra-budgetary resources to promptly complete this effort. Such steps will help restore public confidence in the safety of the food supply and promote further steps towards trade liberalization in the food sector. Such steps will thus benefit producers as well as consumers.