Perdue has notified Congress that he will take more time to consider shifting the Codex food safety office

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has notified Congress that he will take more time to consider shifting the Codex food safety office to the agency’s trade arm as part of a planned reorganization.The reorganization would have transferred oversight of the Codex Office to USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Affairs division from the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS). Codex manages the nation’s participation in the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), which sets worldwide standards for food safety covering more than 180 nations. The CAC also works with the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization (WHO) by helping to resolve trade disputes under the World Trade Organization (WTO).Critics – including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and former USDA undersecretary of agriculture for food safety and Meatingplace blogger Dr. Richard Raymond – contend that the shift might result in more focus on trade issues rather than food safety. FDA also sent USDA a letter earlier this month endorsing the 2015 findings by the National Academy of Public Administration to assess options regarding any USDA reorganization. The FDA agreed that moving Codex under trade leadership “could undermine the scientific credibility of U.S. delegations and U.S. positions at Codex.”Sec. Perdue and the Trump administration said the Codex Office move could enhance the Trade Office’s global status. In a letter to Congress, Perdue contended that the overall reception to the reorganization has been positive, but he recognized that there have been concerns expressed by “some stakeholders.”In the letter to U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, chairman of the committee on agriculture, nutrition and forestry, Sec. Perdue said the Codex Office move and the proposed merger of GIPSA and the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) “merit further discussion given (the) issues raised by stakeholders.”The letter – emailed to Meatingplace by USDA’s communications office – did not specify a timetable for making further determinations on either the Codex or GIPSA issues.