SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The Commission:

• expressed its appreciation to FAO and WHO for the significant shifts in resources in their respective budgets towards the areas of food safety and consumer protection, in particular the support to the scientific expert bodies that advise Codex and the strengthening of Codex and food control related activities in developing countries (para. 18);

• endorsed the view of the Executive Committee concerning the status of the Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables as the international body responsible for drafting grade standards for these products and emphasized the need to draw upon and develop the experience and expertise of specialized bodies working in this field (para. 23);

• agreed that a document should be developed to provide guidance on cooperation with other International Intergovernmental Organizations on the elaboration of Codex Standards and Related Texts under the direction of the Codex Committee on General Principles (para. 31);

• thanked FAO and WHO for their various activities in support of food quality and safety and welcomed the direction to apply preventative approaches (para. 40);

• endorsed recommendations addressed to it by the FAO Conference on Food Trade beyond the Year 2000: Science-based Decisions, Harmonization, Equivalence and Mutual Recognition (para. 42)

• adopted the Strategic Framework, including the Strategic Vision Statement (para. 68), and agreed that the draft Medium-Term Plan should be revised by the Secretariat in the light of the Strategic Framework, the Commission's discussion and the written comments received, and should incorporate the elements of the Chairperson's Action Plan agreed to by the Commission. In this regard, the Commission:
  • agreed that its work should take due account of international regulatory initiatives and developments (para. 51);

  • decided that a decision on the holding of annual meetings of the Commission beginning in 2004 and on the related issue of the future of the Executive Committee would not be taken until the 25^th Session of the Commission in 2003 (para. 55);

• requested FAO and WHO to convene a consultation to review the status and procedures of the expert bodies and to develop recommendations for consideration by the Directors-General on additional ways to improve the quality, quantity and timeliness of scientific advice to the Commission (para. 61);

• agreed in principle that FAO and WHO should establish clear rules and procedures for the establishment and functioning of a trust fund for consideration in the first instance by the Executive Committee in 2002 and the 25^th Session of the Commission in 2003 to ensure its complete transparency and avoidance of bias and influence, to report on its implementation and to indicate envisioned sources of funding (para. 65);

• agreed that the activities envisaged in the Medium Term Plan should include cost estimates to determine whether the objectives could be achieved within available resources (paras. 68-69);

• confirmed its initial mandate to the Codex Committee on General Principles to complete the principles for risk analysis within Codex as a high priority and recommended that relevant Codex Committees should continue to develop and document the application of risk analysis in their work (paras. 75 and 85);

• adopted the position, in regard to the consideration of precaution, that "When there is evidence that a risk to human health exists but scientific data are insufficient or incomplete, the Commission should not proceed to elaborate a standard but should consider elaborating a related text, such as a code of practice, provided that such a text would be supported by the available scientific evidence" (para. 83);

• as a quorum had not been attained, decided to defer discussions of proposed amendments to the Procedural Manual of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, including the membership of Regional Economic Integration Organizations, until the next session and to request the Committee on General Principles to consider the amendments concerning the Membership of Regional Economic Integration Organizations thoroughly in order to clarify relevant issues and facilitate the debate at the next session (paras. 86-88);

• adopted Criteria for the Consideration of Other Factors Referred to in the Second Statement of Principle on the Role of Science related to "other legitimate factors" in the Codex Decision Making Process and the Extent to Which Other Factors are Taken into Account (para. 98);

• adopted 41 new or revised Codex standards, guidelines and related texts including a maximum level for aflatoxin M1 in milk an amendment to the General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods: Labelling of Foods Obtained Through Certain Techniques of Genetic Modification/Engineering: Allergens; and, preliminarily adopted Principles for the Risk Analysis of Foods Derived from Modern Biotechnology and a Guideline for the Conduct of Food Safety Assessment of Foods Derived from Recombinant-DNA Plants (paras. 99-207);

• agreed to undertake the elaboration of a Guideline for the Conduct of Food Safety Assessment of Recombinant-DNA Microorganisms in Food (para. 208);

• agreed to the abolition of the Codex Committee on Soups and Broths and to adjourn sine die the Codex Committee on Natural Mineral Waters (paras. 212-214);

• decided to reactivate the Codex Committee on Meat Hygiene and agreed to rename it as Codex Committee on Meat and Poultry Hygiene (paras. 9 and 215); and

• requested the Directors-General to convene an extraordinary session of the Executive Committee at an early date to consider the unfinished matters on its agenda, so that progress at Committee level would not be impeded (para. 216).