15. The Commission determined that the quorum specified in Rule IV.6 for the amendment of the Rules of Procedure had been constituted.
Clarification of Rule VI.4 (Voting and Procedures)
16. The Commission recalled that the 15th Session of the Committee on General Principles had proposed an amendment to clarify the procedures and facilitate consensus. The 24th Session of the Commission had not been able to adopt the amendment proposed due to the absence of a quorum[7].
17. In accordance with Rules VI.7 and XIII.1 of the Commission’s Rules of Procedure and Rule XII.7 of the General Rules of FAO, the Commission proceeded to a roll-call vote on the amendment with the following results:
|
Votes in favour: |
Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, China, Colombia, Congo (Republic of), Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Czech Republic, DPR Korea, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, Syria, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, United States of America, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
|
Votes against: |
Greece |
|
Abstaining: |
Algeria, India, Switzerland |
|
Tally: |
88 votes cast, 87 in favour, 1 against, 3 abstentions (majority required 59) |
|
Result: |
The amendment was adopted |
18. The Delegations of Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Cameroon, Chile, Costa Rica, Gabon, Ghana, Malta, Nigeria and Swaziland later expressed their opinion in favour of the outcome of the vote.
Proposed Amendments to the Rules of Procedure concerning the Membership of Regional Economic Integration Organizations
19. The 24th Session of the Commission had decided to defer the discussion of the proposed amendments as the quorum was not constituted and also decided to request the Committee on General Principles to consider them thoroughly in order to clarify certain relevant issues[8]. The amendments had also been considered by the FAO Committee on Constitutional and Legal Matters. The 18th Session of the Committee on General Principles had discussed this matter in detail and considered an amendment proposed by the Delegation of the United States to delete the clause allowing Member States of a Regional Organization to develop or support the position of the Member Organization in the Commission and its subsidiary bodies.
20. The Delegation of the United States, referring to its earlier proposal and to its written comments, stressed the need to clarify the application of mixed competence between the European Community and its member states, and reasserted its earlier position that only the Regional Organization should participate in debates concerning questions within its competence.
21. Several delegations however expressed the view that the member states of a Regional Organization should have the possibility to intervene to support the position of that Organization from a technical point of view. They pointed out that it was essential to retain the diversity of the debate, and that this would also facilitate discussions in order to reach consensus. Some delegations referred to regional economic integration in their regions and noted that the Membership of Regional Economic Integrations Organizations in Codex might also facilitate such integration in the future.
22. In accordance with Rules VI.7 and XIII.1 of the Commission’s Rules of Procedure and Rule XII.7 of the General Rules of FAO, the Commission proceeded to a roll-call vote on the amendment with the following results.
|
Votes in favour: |
Argentina, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Congo (Republic of), Cuba, Czech Republic, DPR Korea, Denmark, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guinea, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
|
Votes against: |
Antigua and Barbuda, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Kenya, Malaysia, Paraguay, Qatar, Senegal, Singapore, United States of America, Venezuela |
|
Abstaining: |
Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Australia, Cameroon, China, Georgia, Guatemala, Mozambique, Namibia, Norway, Sudan, United Arab Emirates |
|
Tally: |
85 votes cast, 73 in favour, 12 against, 13 abstentions (majority required 57) |
|
Result: |
The amendment was adopted |
23. The Delegation of Côte d’Ivoire later expressed its opinion in favour of the outcome of the vote.
24. The Commission noted that amendments and additions to the Rules of Procedure enter into force only after their approval by the Directors-General (Rule XIII.1). The Rules as adopted by the Commission are presented in Appendix II to the present report.
Principles for the Establishment of Methods of Analysis
25. The Commission adopted the amendment to the General Criteria for the Selection of Methods of Analysis using the Criteria Approach.
26. The Commission adopted the amendment to the Principles for the Establishment of Methods of Analysis with the insertion of a new section addressing Working Instructions for the Implementation of the Criteria Approach in Codex, with the correction of an editorial error.
Name and Terms of Reference of the Committee on Meat and Poultry Hygiene
27. The Commission adopted the revised terms of reference of the Committee as proposed and agreed that its name should read “Codex Committee on Meat Hygiene”.
Measures to Facilitate Consensus
28. The Commission recalled that the 49th (Extraordinary) Session of the Executive Committee had endorsed the proposals of the Committee on General Principles in order to facilitate consensus and had recommended their adoption by the Commission.
29. The Delegation of Japan, while supporting the current proposals, expressed the view that the consideration of written comments should also be addressed in the recommendations. The Commission agreed that the Committee on General Principles should consider the opportunity of developing an additional recommendation in this respect at its next regular session.
30. The Commission adopted the Measures to Facilitate Consensus for inclusion in the Procedural Manual as a general decision of the Commission.
31. The amendments to the Procedural Manual as adopted by the Commission are presented in Appendix III to this report.
|
[6] ALINORM 03/26/5; ALINORM
03/26/5-Add.1 (comments of Brazil, EC, ICGMA), CAC/26 LIM.17 (comments of The
United States of America). [7] ALINORM 01/41, para. 86. [8] ALINORM 01/41, paras. 87-88. |
