53. The Committee recalled that the last session had decided to consider the possibility of developing a code of hygienic practice for primary production, harvesting and packaging of fresh produce. The Delegation of Canada introduced the document, which had been prepared in cooperation with several countries, and focused on the microbiological hazards associated with primary production, highlighting the most common pathogens found in fresh fruits and vegetables. The main factors in the pre-harvest and post-harvest contamination of fresh fruits and vegetables were also considered and an outline of the recommendations which might be considered in a code of hygienic practice was presented.
54. The Committee expressed its appreciation to the Delegation of Canada and to the countries involved in the drafting for their work in clarifying the issues to be addressed and preparing the basis for the development of a Code. The Committee strongly supported the continuation of this work in view of the significant food safety issues involved, and agreed to inform the Executive Committee accordingly.
55. The Delegation of Austria, expressing the views within the European Union, proposed that the Code should address not only microbiological contamination but also contamination by chemicals, including pesticides, or the Scope should be clarified by its title. Other delegations recalled that matters related to pesticide residues were addressed by the Committee on Pesticide Residues and that the Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants was working on the definition of source-directed measures for the prevention of environmental contamination. It was also proposed to consider the preservation of nutritional quality of foods in the production chain.
56. The Observer from Consumers International supported the development of prevention measures for microbiological and chemical hazards in primary production and indicated that the provisions of the Code should also apply to products from organic agriculture.
57. The Delegation of India, supported by other delegations, proposed to include a section recognizing the specific difficulties of developing countries, the need for flexibility and a realistic time frame in the application of control measures, as well as the requirements for training of personnel and technical assistance from FAO and WHO.
58. The Representative of WHO drew the attention of the Committee to the relevance of the following WHO publications to the control of hazards in primary production: Guidelines for the Safe Use of Wastewater and Excreta in Agriculture and Aquaculture, Prevention and control of Enterohemorragic E.coli Infection[11], Control of Foodborne Trematodes Infections[12]. The Representative stated that there was a lack of documented outbreaks of foodborne diseases associated with fruits and vegetables from developing countries and invited member countries to report such outbreaks to WHO. The importance of this data for developing a code which would adequately address food safety problems in the developing world was stressed. The Representative noted that the title of the code referred only to fresh produce and recommended that it should be clarified to specify that fruits were included as well as vegetables. This proposal was supported by the Delegation of Argentina and the Committee agreed to amend the title accordingly.
59. The Committee discussed the opportunity of incorporating the HACCP approach in the proposed code. Several delegations stressed the difficulties related to the application of the HACCP system at the level of primary production, where the emphasis should rather be put on Good Agricultural Practice as a prerequisite to ensure the safety of the product. Some delegations indicated that although the application of HACCP to primary production of fresh fruits and vegetables might not be feasible at this stage, it should be a long-term objective. The Delegation of Japan expressed the view that the HACCP system should be applied in the production of sprouts.
60. The Representative of FAO informed the Committee about the Quality Assurance and Food Safety Programme for raw fruits and vegetables that FAO was currently implementing with the University of Arkansas and the collaboration of some countries in Latin America. The programme included a workshop on the assessment of training and research needs, to be held in Guatemala from 1-3 December 1998. The Representative indicated that “Training of Trainers (TOT)” courses would be implemented in early 1999 in Costa Rica and Mexico and that research would be conducted on the measures to prevent contamination of fresh fruits and vegetables. The development of the code would be very useful in the framework of such programmes.
61. The Representative of PAHO reported that a programme was being proposed in cooperation with IICA for the application of HACCP in primary production and considered that it was necessary to promote the use of Good Agricultural Practice if the HACCP system was to be applied successfully in primary production.
62. The Committee agreed that the Delegation of Canada, in cooperation with a drafting group[13] and in the light of the above discussion, would develop a Proposed Draft Code of Hygienic Practice for Primary Production, Harvesting and Packaging of Fresh Produce/Fruits and Vegetables (including an Annex for sprouts), for circulation at Step 3 and consideration by the next session (see also para. 71 below).
