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PART XI

CODEX GENERAL SUBJECT COMMITTEES

Report of the Codex Committee on General Principles - ALINORM 68/9

81. The Commission noted that the main features of the Report of the Second Session of the Codex Committee on General Principles had been dealt with as separate items on its agenda and confined itself to discussing other matters arising from the Report. Drawing attention to paragraph 10 of the Report concerning responsibility for the enforcement of Codex standards in relation to acceptance, the Chairman of the Codex Committee on General Principles indicated that this would involve the setting up of a control service. With regard to paragraph 14 of the Report, the Commission was informed that the paper which the United Kingdom had been asked to prepare and which is entitled “The Idea of a General Standard” was available and would be distributed to governments for comments which would be considered at the next session of the Codex Committee on General Principles.

82. The Commission confirmed under Rule IX.10 that the Codex Committee on General Principles should continue to be under the chairmanship of the Government of France.

Report of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling - ALINORM 68/22

83. The Commission received a report from Mr. H.V. Dempsey (Canada) on the Third Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling. The Commission noted that at its next session the Committee would be considering comments on the General Standard for Food Labelling, matters referred to it by Codex Commodity Committees, and other items which the Committee had not been able to deal with at its previous session, such as claims on labels. The delegation of Canada, as chairman country of the Committee, expressed its willingness to extend the duration of the session in order to deal with and finalize these matters. The paragraphs of the Report on which specific government comments were sought were paragraphs 7, 11, 12, 15 and 17. The delegation of the Netherlands stated that in their opinion the work on a General Standard for the Labelling of Food should be stopped and the Codex concepts of labelling be presented in the form of guidelines.

84. The Commission confirmed under Rule IX.10 that the Codex Committee on Food Labelling should continue to be under the chairmanship of the Government of Canada.

Report of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene - ALINORM 68/13

85. The Commission had before it the Report of the Fourth Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene, introduced by Mr. G. Grange of the U.S.A. It was drawn to the attention of the Commission that a new body had been established in the field of food hygiene - the WHO Expert Committee on Food Hygiene (Food Microbiology). The Commission noted that the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene had expressed its concern over a possible duplication of work in this field. The WHO representative explained that the Expert Committee on Food Hygiene would deal primarily with the overall problems of the prevention of the transmission of pathogens by food; it would take into consideration the newly recognized pathogenic agents, their origin and ways of spreading, the effect of new food manufacture procedures on the survival of pathogens, and the changing patterns of food-borne disease outbreaks. The WHO representative considered that the activity of the Expert Committee on Food Hygiene would not duplicate the work of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene and therefore there appeared to be no necessity for making any changes in the terms of reference of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene, which was primarily concerned with problems of food standards and codes of hygienic practice. The Codex Committee on Food Hygiene could receive from the Expert Committee any recommendation which was applicable to its field and might refer back, if it wished, unsolved problems to the Expert Committee on Food Hygiene. In these cases, to expedite the work of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene, additional smaller WHO meetings, consisting of three to four specialists, might be necessary to cover specific requests from the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene. It was pointed out to the Commission that the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene consisted of experts highly competent in the field of food hygiene who might participate at both Codex and Expert Committee meetings on food hygiene. The Commission noted that there could be a slight area of overlap of functions by the Expert Committee and the Directors-General of the two Organizations were requested to keep a close watch on this matter.

86. The Commission confirmed under Rule IX.10 that the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene should continue to be under the chairmanship of the Government of the U.S.A.

Report of the Codex Committee on Food Additives - ALINORM 68/12

87. The Commission received a report from Dr. P. Berben (Netherlands). The Codex Committee on Food Additives had requested the Commission to indicate whether the question of irradiation of foods as a controlled process for the preservation of food should be considered by the Codex Committee on Food Additives. The Commission noted that a definition of food additives would be discussed at the next session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives. The Commission decided that in this connection the Committee should also consider whether in their view the irradiation of food should fall within their terms of reference, taking into account work being done in related fields by FAO/WHO/IAEA. The Commission drew attention to paragraph 4 of the Report of the Fourth Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives in which it was stated that it was not the function of that Committee to examine food additives proposed by Commodity Committees from a technological point of view.

88. As a number of standards containing food additives provisions might be sent out to governments for acceptance in the near future, the Commission decided that for food additives which had only been temporarily endorsed by the Codex Committee on Food Additives a footnote would be required according to the appropriate decision of the Codex Committee on Food Additives, as follows:

  1. Temporary pending toxicological evaluation

  2. Temporary pending assessment of the total food load

The Commission instructed the Secretariat to incorporate these footnotes, where appropriate, when preparing standards to be sent out for government acceptance at Step 9. With respect to the estimation of the total food load, the Codex Committee on Food Additives had recommended that governments should collect information on the consumption of foods in their own countries and in particular on the actual intake of food additives.

89. The Commission was informed that it would be essential to link the food additive provisions in Codex standards with the appropriate FAO/WHO specifications of identity and purity of food additives. It decided that reference to this should be made in the Format. The following amendment to the Format of Codex Standards was agreed by the Commission:

“The following provisions in respect of food additives and their specifications as contained in Section …. of the Codex Alimentarius, are subject to endorsement [have been endorsed] by the Codex Committee on Food Additives.”

90. The Commission confirmed under Rule IX.10 that the Codex Committee on Food Additives should continue to be under the chairmanship of the Government of the Netherlands.

Report of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues - ALINORM 68/24

91. The Commission received a report from Dr. P. Berben (Netherlands). The Commission agreed with the view of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues that the Committee should consider the pesticide residues in food arising from all uses of the pesticide.

92. The Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues had requested the Codex Alimentarius Commission to modify paragraph 36(a) of the Report of the Third Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission slightly to permit toxicological data to be sent by governments to the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues. The US and Canadian delegations did not consider that the sending of the complete toxicological data to the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues would serve any practical purpose in view of the responsibility of this Committee. The Commission agreed that paragraph 36(a) should be modified so that governments would send also a copy of toxicological data to the Chairman of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues for reference purposes.

93. The Commission noted with satisfaction that budgetary provision had been made to hold a Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues in 1969. The Commission agreed with the view of the Codex Committee that it was essential to hold the Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues on an annual basis.

94. The Commission confirmed under Rule IX.10 that the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues should continue to be under the chairmanship of the Government of the Netherlands.

Report of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling - ALINORM 68/23

95. The Commission had before it the Report of the Third Session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling, which was introduced by the Chairman, Professor Franck (Federal Republic of Germany). It was pointed out to the Commission that the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling had a full program of work and that for this reason no additional work could be envisaged at this time. It was also pointed out to the Commission that there existed certain procedural inconsistencies and difficulties in connection with the work of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling which would be examined by the Executive Committee in the coming year. The Committee had considered the question of referee methods as had been requested by the Tenth Session of the Executive Committee and had concluded that the methods of analysis contained in the Codex Alimentarius should be referee methods, but that methods proved to be equivalent could be regarded as alternatives. The Commission endorsed the following text to be inserted in the Format of Codex Standards under the heading “Methods of Analysis and Sampling”.

Methods of Analysis and Sampling

This section should include, either specifically or by reference, all methods of analysis and sampling considered necessary and should be prepared in accordance with paragraph 13(c) of the Guidelines for Codex Committees. If two or more methods have been proved to be equivalent by the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling these could be regarded as alternatives and be included in this section either specifically or by reference. The following statement should also appear:

‘The methods of analysis and sampling described hereunder are international referee methods which are to be endorsed [have been endorsed] by the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling’.”

96. The Commission considered that the responsibility for deciding whether a method of analysis was in fact equivalent to the proposed referee method rested with the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling.

97. The question was raised whether the methods of analysis and sampling appearing in Appendix X to the Report of the Fourth Session of the Codex Committee on Sugars had been endorsed by the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling. The Commission was informed that, although these methods of analysis and sampling had been examined and endorsed by the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling, government comments had been invited on them and they would be again examined in the light of the comments received.

98. The Chairman of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling pointed out that in view of the fact that a great number of methods of analysis and sampling had been referred to that Committee, it had found it necessary to invite comments according to the Procedure for the Elaboration of Codex Standards.

99. The Commission confirmed under Rule IX.10 that the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling should continue to be under the chairmanship of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany.


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