November 2006
Extract from the Report of the 15th Session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean, Mar del Plata , Argentina , 13 - 17 November 2006 (see http://www.codexalimentarius.net/download/report/670/al30_36e.pdf )
The agencies having jurisdiction for food include the Ministry of Health, Human Services and Gender Relations - the Environmental Health Division; the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries - Veterinary Department and Plant Protection Department and St. Lucia Bureau of Standards - food safety standards development and adoption (label assessment, hazard analysis and critical control point system (HACCP) training).
The National Codex Contact Point is housed at the St. Lucia Bureau of Standards. The Bureau has a functioning National Codex Committee made up of a broad cross-section of stakeholders. The National Consumers Association is represented in this Committee and in the Food Safety and Food Products Technical Committee.
The country has a new Food Safety Act of 2003. It is still in the draft stage. This new Act references standards adopted by the St. Lucia Bureau of Standards. This Agency has adopted some Codex standards as national ones. It is not always possible to adopt Codex standards as national standards since they have to adjust international standards to local conditions. However, Codex standards and related texts are used as a basis for the development of national standards.
Information last updated - February 2007