Appendix II. Amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Codex Alimentarius Commission[114]

Appendix II. Amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Codex Alimentarius Commission^[114]

CLARIFICATION OF RULE VI.4 (VOTING AND PROCEDURES)

Amend Rule VI.4 as follows (inclusion underlined):

Subject to the provisions of paragraph 5 of this Rule and paragraph 2 of Rule X, any Member of the Commission may request a roll-call vote, in which case the vote of each Member shall be recorded.

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MEMBERSHIP OF REGIONAL ECONOMIC INTEGRATION ORGANIZATIONS

Add a new Rule 1.3 to the Rules of Procedure, and re-number current Rule 1.3 as Rule 1.4:

“Membership shall also comprise regional economic integration organizations members of either FAO or WHO that notify the Director-General of FAO or WHO of their desire to be considered Members of the Commission”.

Add a new Rule to the Rules of Procedure after Rule I to read as follows:

“Rule II - Member Organizations

1. A Member Organization shall exercise membership rights on an alternative basis with its Member States that are Members of the Commission in the areas of their respective competence.

2. A Member Organization shall have the right to participate in matters within its competence in any meetings of the Commission or its subsidiary bodies in which any of its Member States is entitled to participate. This is without prejudice to the possibility for the Member States to develop or support the position of the Member Organization in areas within its competence.

3. A Member Organization may exercise on matters within its competence, in any meetings of the Commission or any subsidiary body of the Commission in which it is entitled to participate in accordance with paragraph 2, a number of votes equal to the number of its Member States which are entitled to vote in such meetings and present at the time the vote is taken. Whenever a Member Organization exercises its right to vote, its Member States shall not exercise theirs, and conversely.

4. A Member Organization shall not be eligible for election or designation, nor to hold office in the Commission or any subsidiary body. A Member Organization shall not participate in voting for any elective places in the Commission and its subsidiary bodies.

5. Before any meeting of the Commission or a subsidiary body of the Commission in which a Member Organization is entitled to participate, the Member Organization or its Member States shall indicate in writing which, as between the Member Organization and its Member States, has competence in respect of any specific question to be considered in the meeting and which, as between the Member Organization and its Member States, shall exercise the right to vote in respect of each particular agenda item. Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent a Member Organization or its Member States from making a single declaration in the Commission and each subsidiary body in which a Member Organization is entitled to participate for the purposes of this paragraph, which declaration shall remain in force for questions and agenda items to be considered at all subsequent meetings, subject to such exceptions or modifications as may be indicated before any individual meeting.

6. Any Member of the Commission may request a Member Organization or its Member States to provide information as to which, as between the Member Organization and its Member States, has competence in respect of any specific question. The Member Organization or the Member States concerned shall provide this information on such request.

7. In cases where an agenda item covers both matters in respect of which competence has been transferred to the Member Organization and matters which lie within the competence of its Member States, both the Member Organization and its Member States may participate in the discussions. In such cases the meeting, in arriving at its decisions,^[115] shall take into account only the intervention of the party which has the right to vote.^[116]

8. For the purpose of determining a quorum, as specified in paragraph 6 of Rule IV, the delegation of a Member Organization shall be counted for a number equal to the number of its Member States which are entitled to participate in the meeting and are present at the time the quorum is sought, to the extent that it is entitled to vote under the relevant agenda item.”

Renumber the subsequent Rules accordingly.

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^[114] Amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Codex Alimentarius Commission come into force upon approval of the Directors-General of FAO and WHO, subject to such confirmation as may be prescribed by the procedures of the two Organizations (Rule XIII.1).
^[115] The word ‘decisions’ should be understood to mean both voting and situations where a decision is taken by consensus.
^[116] The above is without prejudice to the question of whether or not the views of the party not having the right to vote shall be reflected in the report of the meeting. Where the views of the party not having the right to vote are reflected in the report, the fact that they are the views of the party not having the right to vote shall also be reflected in the report.