Australia has helped shape new international food labelling guidance that will support food trade during emergencies and promote a consistent approach to providing precautionary allergen information to consumers.
The outcomes follow the 49th Session of the Codex Committee on Food labelling (CCFL49), held in Ottawa, Canada, from 11 to 15 May 2026.
Australia’s delegation was led by labelling experts from Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), with support from DAFF’s Codex team and technical input from the department’s Export Standards Branch.
CCFL49 brought together international experts to progress global food labelling standards through Codex Alimentarius, the United Nations Food Standards Program run by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Health Organisation (WHO). Codex develops internationally recognised food standards and guidance to protect consumer health and support fair practices in food trade.
One of the key outcomes from CCFL49 was the finalisation of guidance to support the consideration of food labelling flexibilities during emergencies. The guidance is designed to help regulators respond to supply chain disruptions by supporting continued food supply and trade while maintaining consumer protections and fair trading practices.
Australia worked to help ensure the guidance can support global trade during disruptions that affect supply chains, including circumstances where an emergency occurs outside the importing country. This guidance outlines practical considerations and responsibilities for regulators in permitting labelling flexibilities help to maintain domestic or international food supply chains during emergencies.
The committee also finalised international guidance on the use of precautionary allergen labelling, marking an important milestone in work co-led by Australia over several years. Australia supported the scientific, risk-based approach to precautionary allergen labelling agreed by the committee, which mirrors Australia’s evidence-based approach to mandatory allergen declaration. This agreed guidance promotes the alignment of existing and any future regulation on precautionary allergen labelling across markets, providing increased consistency for consumers with food allergy.
The Meeting outcomes represent an important step forward in supporting resilient trade during disruptions and improving consumer health protection through clearer, more consistent allergen labelling guidance.
The agreed texts will now proceed to the Codex Alimentarius Commission for adoption at their meeting in July 2026.
Australia will continue to contribute to international discussions supporting food security, consumer health protection and market access for Australian agriculture.
This committee is one of many held throughout the year, including the Australian-hosted Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS). CCFICS28 will take place in Perth from 12 to 17 October 2026.
