The Codex Alimentarius Committee is the subsidiary body of the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization responsible for developing the Codex Alimentarius, the international collection of food standards, guidelines, and codes of practice. Its committees of member-country experts set standards for food safety, quality, labelling, and trade, from maximum residue limits to hygiene codes. Codex standards are voluntary but hugely influential: the World Trade Organization treats them as the reference point in trade disputes. For exporters, meeting Codex standards opens world markets; for consumers, they underpin the safety of traded food.