국제통상법에 있어서 식품안전에 대한 EU식품법의 지위

EU food law cannot be seen only in the context of the internal market of the EU. It has now become a model for other countries throughout the world. And its influence can been seen in the international organizations dealing with food law such as the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The principles of the internal market apply to food products from the third-countries which have been placed on the EU market. If one takes the examples of hormone-treated meat and genetically modified maize/soya and the controls of the EU places on these foodstuffs entering the EU, there is considerable potential for trade conflicts between the EU and the third-countries such as USA in relation to food. The WTO ruling on hormone-treated meat has shown that EU food law cannot be looked at in isolation but must be seen in the wider international context. The WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures has introduced the obligations for the EU in terms of food and hygiene legislation. Due to the adoption of WTO Agreements, the Codex Alimentarius Commission has assumed a greater importance in the regulation of food law in the international context. Under the WTO dispute settlement procedures, the Codex standard is the binding basis for decisions. As can be seen in the hormone-treated meat case and the question of genetically modified foods, the views of the Codex are quite different to those of the EU on many food-related issues. The Codex does not accept taking consumer concerns(food safety and health protection) into account when devising the basis for setting international food standards, rather the Codes relies almost totally and generally on current scientific advice. Hereupon the EU has established the European Food Safety Authority and its ten Scientific Panels in order to make their work more transparent. And there is need for a debate at EU level on how the Panels aim to interact with the WTO panels and the Codex scientific committees. After all the WTO and the Codex are likely to play an increasingly important role in the control of the food industry in the international economy. And in this situation, all members of the WTO should be able to base their own food law on the precautionary principle that ensures that questions of consumer protection and public health are taken into account along with scientific opinion when the WTO members are preparing for their future food legislation, especially in the fields of sanitary and phytosanitary.