• The Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH) has finalised and recommended, quality standards for five spices — allspice, juniper berries, star anise, turmeric, and cardamom recently, to the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) for adoption as full -fledged Codex standards.
• The Committee is chaired by India and Spices Board India functions as its Secretariat.
• R. Sudharshan is the current Chairman of the Committee.
• The seventh plenary session of the CCSCH, held in Kochi, was the first physical meeting after a gap of five years.
• As many as 109 delegates from 31 countries attended the five-day long meeting.

ABOUT CODEX STANDARDS

• These are international food texts, including- standards, codes of practice, codes of hygienic practice, guidelines and other recommendations.
• Codex texts are voluntary and not binding on national food laws.
• Codex standards are globally important because they are prepared by intergovernmental committees, are referred to resolve international trade disputes and also form the basis of aligning national standards by Codex member countries.
• Standards in Codex are finalized through an 8-step process, with reviews at several stages, using working groups chaired by member countries.

ABOUT CAC

• The Codex Alimentarius Commission(CAC) is an international food standards body established jointly by the Food and Agriculture organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO)in May 1963 with the objective of protecting consumer’s health and ensuring fair practices in food trade.
• Headquarters- Rome, Italy
• It conducts its work through various Codex committees, including CCSCH, hosted by different member countries.
• The commission has 189 Codex Members including India.