Report by the Secretariat on Matters Referred by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and/or Other Codex Committees to the Food Hygiene Committee (Agenda Item 2)[2]

6. The Committee noted matters arising from the 47^th Session of the Executive Committee; the 15^th Session of the Codex Committee on General Principles; the 32^nd Session of the Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants; the 24^th Session of the Committee on Fish and Fishery Products; the 4^th Session of the Committee on Milk and Milk Products; as well as general matters from FAO and WHO.

7. The Committee decided to consider referrals concerning Heat Treatment Definitions, Antimicrobial Resistance and Food Safety Objectives under the relevant Agenda Items.

CAC Chairperson’s Action Plan

8. Mr. Thomas J. Billy, Administrator, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA, and Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, introduced the Chairperson’s Action Plan. He indicated that as Chairman of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) he would promote initiatives in the following major areas in order to progress the work of Codex:

• increasing the speed and efficacy of the Codex process by holding CAC meetings every year, forming a new committee to assist the Chairman and Secretariat at Commission meetings and converting the commodity committees into task forces with sunset provisions;
• further strengthening scientific support in the decision-making process by restructuring the scientific expert bodies and developing the clear guidelines for their work;
• increasing the participation of developing countries by establishing a trust fund and by regularly holding a regular Codex meetings in developing countries;
• increasing transparency and the participation of NGO’s through inclusion of NGO’s as Observers to the Executive Committee meetings;
• split the CCFAC into two committees;
• increasing total support to Codex by the parent organizations by encouraging the World Health Organization (WHO) to match the level of support provided by FAO;
• increasing the use of new information technologies, such as Internet web casts, home pages and chat rooms, in order to improve communication and support for Codex.

9. Mr Billy informed the Committee that the Action Plan, when finalized, would be sent to Member Governments for their input and be placed on the Provisional Agenda of the Executive Committee next year. Finally, Mr Billy wished to begin the new millennium by taking a variety of steps to strengthen Codex as the internationally recognized body for deliberations regarding food safety, consumer health and fair trade.

Risk Analysis and Hazard Analysis

10. With respect to the referral of recommendations to the CCFH from the Executive Committee regarding the Difference between the terms Risk Analysis and Hazard Analysis, the Committee agreed that in order to eliminate confusion between those terms more detailed consideration would be necessary under “Other Bushiness and Future Work” (see also para 150).

11. The Committee concluded that the recommendation regarding the Quality Criteria for the Data Used for Risk Assessment was relevant to experts engaged in risk assessment. The Committee noted the recommendation regarding the use of global data as a basis for risk assessment, and in particular including epidemiological surveillance data and exposure studies from developing countries.

Revision of the Code of Hygienic Practice for Meat and Poultry Products

12. The Committee expressed its support for the revision of the Codes of Hygienic Practice for Fresh Meat and Game and the drafting of a new code for Poultry by the Committee on Meat Hygiene while noting that there should be an interaction between both committees and that the revision be carried out in conformity with the Recommended International Code of Practice - General Principles of Food Hygiene.

Proposed Draft Code of Practice for Fish and Fishery Products

13. The Codex Secretariat reminded the Committee that the above Proposed Draft Code would be submitted to the 34^th session of the CCFH for endorsement of the provisions on food hygiene. The Code had been appended to the report of the 24^th Session of the CCFFP (ALINORM 01/18) and therefore was available to Member Countries for review.