10. The report was submitted by the Secretariat on behalf of the Directors-General as required by Rule XI.1 of the Commission's Rules of Procedure. The Commission also noted the discussions of the Executive Committee on this matter (ALINORM 01/4, paras 5-11).
11. The Secretariat noted that for the biennium 1998/99 there had been an under-expenditure of US$75,000 (2%) in the Joint Budget, which was carried forward into the current biennium. A surplus of US$56,000 in the FAO-only Budget in the same biennium was returned to FAO. The Secretariat further noted that there had been a major re-alignment of the proposed budget for 2002/03. The FAO-only budget had been abolished and the additional FAO-only contribution covering additional documentation expenses would now be made directly to the Joint Budget. As a consequence, the level of the FAO-only budget had been reduced and the funding for expert consultations and direct country support had been transferred from the Codex Budget to the FAO Regular Programme which in itself had been substantially increased. Likewise the WHO Food Safety Programme Regular budget support for expert consultations and regional work had been increased significantly in 2000/01, an increase which will be continued in 2002/03. The overall level of the budget for the operations of the Secretariat in 2002-03 was at the same level as the current biennium.
12. The Commission noted the extrabudgetary support provided to the Secretariat through the FAO Associate Expert Programme and the support of the Governments of Japan, France and the Republic of Korea for the funding of additional professional staff, also through the WHO Food Safety Programme.
13. Several of the Delegations of Members where English was not the official language drew attention to the problems in the quality and timeliness of the translation of Codex documents and believed that due to these problems many countries were unable to meet the requested deadlines or to participate effectively at Codex meetings. It was recommended that specific provisions should be made within the budget to ensure the timely and accurate provisions of working documents in the languages of the Commission and that the Secretariat should assume responsibility for the quality of translations provided by host government translators.
14. The Arabic-speaking Delegations at the Session welcomed the use of the Arabic language in the Commission for the first time, but requested that documentation in Arabic be made available on an equivalent basis with the other official languages, including in the Codex Committees. The Delegation of China expressed the wish that many more documents for the Commission would in future be available in Chinese.
15. Many delegations while supporting the current and proposed Codex budgets noted the vulnerability of the process due to the increased workload on the limited Codex Secretariat and stated that an increase in the permanent professional Codex staff was necessary. It was noted that the Executive Committee had previously called upon the FAO and WHO to give consideration to increasing the number of permanent professional staff to carry out its duties.[4] The joint nature of the Programme was also noted and several delegations were of the view that the contributions of the parent organizations should be more balanced.
16. Both FAO and WHO acknowledged the need for continued support to the Codex Secretariat and Codex work in general. The budgetary constraints of the parent organizations were mentioned, and the need for new thinking in the general functioning of the Codex system and ways to support the Secretariat further was stressed.
17. The Commission endorsed the views of the Executive Committee that the opportunity existed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Codex, and also endorsed the request to the Secretariat to prepare a detailed budget for its existing programmes, identify changes in resources that were implied in the Strategic Framework, the draft Medium-Term Plan and the Chairperson's Action Plan, and to take such detailed programming into account in the preparation of future budgetary planning.
18. 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. It also expressed its appreciation to the Codex Secretariat for its professional and dedicated work.
