RULE I MEMBERSHIP
1. Membership of the Joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission, hereinafter referred to as "the Commission", is open to all Member Nations and Associate Members of FAO and/or WHO.
2. Membership shall comprise such eligible nations as have notified the Director General of FAO or of WHO of their desire to be considered Members of the Commission.
3. Each Member of the Commission shall communicate to the Director General of FAO or of WHO the names of its representative and where possible other members of its delegation before the opening of each session of the Commission.
RULE II OFFICERS
1. The Commission shall elect a Chairperson and three Vice Chairpersons from among the representatives, alternates and advisers (hereinafter referred to as "delegates") of the Members of the Commission; it being understood that no delegate shall be eligible without the concurrence of the head of his delegation. They shall be elected at each session and shall hold office from the end of the session at which they were elected until the end of the following regular session. The Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons may remain in office only with the continuing endorsement of the respective Member of the Commission of which they were a delegate at the time of election. The Directors-General of FAO and WHO shall declare a position vacant when advised by the Member of the Commission that such endorsement has ceased. The Chairperson and Vice Chairpersons shall be eligible for re election but after having served two consecutive terms shall be ineligible to hold such office for the next succeeding term.
2. The Chairperson, or in his absence a Vice Chairperson, shall preside at meetings of the Commission and exercise such other function as may be required to facilitate the work of the Commission. A Vice-Chairperson acting as Chairperson shall have the same powers and duties as the Chairperson.
3. When neither the Chairperson nor the Vice-Chairperson are able to serve and, on the request of the outgoing Chairperson, during elections for the Chairperson, the Directors-General of FAO and WHO shall appoint a staff member to act as Chairperson, until either a temporary Chairperson or a new Chairperson has been elected. Any temporary Chairperson so elected shall hold office until the Chairperson or one of the Vice-Chairpersons is able to serve again.
4. (a) The Commission may appoint a Coordinator from among the delegates of the Members of the Commission for any of the geographic locations enumerated in Rule III.1 (hereinafter referred to as 'regions') or for any group of countries specifically enumerated by the Commission (hereinafter referred to as 'groups of countries'), whenever it may find, on the basis of a proposal of a majority of the Members of the Commission which constitute the region or group, that work for the Codex Alimentarius in the countries concerned so requires.
(b) Appointments of Coordinators shall be made exclusively on the proposal of a majority of the Members of the Commission which constitute the region or group of countries concerned. Coordinators shall hold office from the end of the session of the Commission at which they were elected until not later than the end of the third succeeding regular session, the precise term being determined by the Commission in each instance. After having served two consecutive terms, the Coordinators shall be ineligible to hold such office for the next succeeding term.
(c) The functions of the Coordinators shall be:
(i) to assist and coordinate the work of the Codex Committees set up under Rule IX.1(b)(i) in their region or group of countries in the preparation of draft standards, guidelines and other recommendations for submission to the Commission;(ii) to assist the Executive Committee and the Commission, as required, by advising them of the views of countries and recognized regional intergovernmental and non-government organizations in their respective regions on matters under discussion or of interest.
(d) Where a Coordinating Committee has been set up under Rule IX.1(b)(ii), the Coordinator of the region involved should be the Chairperson of the Committee.
(e) Where a Coordinator is not able to carry out the functions of office, the Member of the Commission of which the Coordinator was a delegate at the time of appointment shall inform the Secretary of the Commission accordingly and shall appoint an interim Coordinator until such time as the Coordinator is able to resume those functions or until the next session of the Commission.
5. The Commission may appoint one or more rapporteurs from among the delegates of the Members of the Commission.
6. The Directors-General of FAO and WHO shall be requested to appoint from the staffs of their organizations a Secretary of the Commission and such other officials, likewise responsible to them, as may be necessary to assist the officers and the Secretary in performing all duties that the work of the Commission may require.
RULE III EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
1. The Executive Committee shall consist of the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the Commission together with six further members, elected by the Commission at regular sessions from among the Members of the Commission, one each coming from the following geographic locations:
Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, South-West Pacific; it being understood that not more than one delegate from any one country shall be a member of the Executive Committee. Members elected on a geographic basis shall hold office from the end of the session of the Commission at which they were elected until the end of the second succeeding regular session and shall be eligible for re election, but after having served two consecutive terms shall be ineligible to hold such office for the next succeeding term.
2. The Executive Committee shall, between sessions of the Commission, act on behalf of the Commission as its executive organ. In particular the Executive Committee may make proposals to the Commission regarding the general orientation and programme of work of the Commission, study special problems and help implement the programme as approved by the Commission. The Executive Committee may also exercise, when it shall deem it to be essential and subject to confirmation by the next session of the Commission, the Commission's powers under Rule IX.1(b)
(i), Rule IX.5 insofar as it refers to bodies established under Rule IX.1(b)(i), and Rule IX.10, insofar as it refers to the designation of the Members who shall be responsible for appointing Chairpersons to subsidiary bodies established under Rule IX.1(b)(i).
3. The Chairperson and Vice Chairpersons of the Commission shall be respectively the Chairperson and Vice Chairpersons of the Executive Committee.
4. Sessions of the Executive Committee may be convened as often as necessary by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO, in consultation with the Chairperson. The Executive Committee shall normally meet immediately prior to each session of the Commission.
5. The Executive Committee shall report to the Commission.
RULE IV SESSIONS
1. The Commission shall in principle hold one regular session each year at the Headquarters of either FAO or WHO. Additional sessions shall be held as considered necessary by the Directors General of FAO and WHO after consultation with the Chairperson of the Executive Committee.
2. Sessions of the Commission shall be convened and the place of the meeting shall be determined by the Directors General of FAO and WHO after consultation where appropriate, with the authorities of the host country.
3. Notice of the date and place of each session of the Commission shall be communicated to all Members of the Commission at least two months before the session.
4. Each Member of the Commission shall have one representative, who may be accompanied by one or more alternates and advisers.
5. Meetings of the Commission shall be held in public, unless the Commission decides otherwise.
6. The majority of the Members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum for the purposes of making recommendations for amendments to the Statutes of the Commission and of adopting amendments of, or additions to, the present Rules in accordance with Rule XIII.1. For all other purposes the majority of the Members of the Commission attending the session shall constitute a quorum, provided that such a majority shall be not less than 20 percent of the total membership of the Commission, nor less than 25 Members. In addition, in the case of amendment or adoption of a proposed standard for a given region or group of countries, the quorum of the Commission shall include one third of the Members belonging to the region or group of countries concerned.
RULE V AGENDA
1. The Directors General of FAO and WHO, after consultation with the Chairperson of the Commission or with the Executive Committee, shall prepare a Provisional Agenda for each session of the Commission.
2. The first item on the Provisional Agenda shall be the adoption of the Agenda.
3. Any Member of the Commission may request the Directors-General of FAO or WHO to include specific items in the Provisional Agenda.
4. The Provisional Agenda shall be circulated by the Directors General of FAO or WHO to all Members of the Commission at least two months before the opening of the session.
5. Any Member of the Commission, and the Directors-General of FAO and WHO, may, after the dispatch of the Provisional Agenda, propose the inclusion of specific items in the Agenda with respect to matters of an urgent nature. These items shall be placed on a supplementary list, which, if time permits before the opening of the session, shall be dispatched by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO to all Members of the Commission, failing which the supplementary list shall be communicated to the Chairperson for submission to the Commission.
6. No items included in the Agenda by the governing bodies or the Directors General of FAO and WHO shall be deleted therefrom. After the Agenda has been adopted, the Commission may, by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast, amend the Agenda by the deletion, addition or modification of any other item.
7. Documents to be submitted to the Commission at any session shall be furnished by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO to all Members of the Commission, to the other eligible Nations attending the session as observers and to the non-member nations and international organizations invited as observers thereto, in principle at least two months prior to the session at which they are to be discussed.
RULE VI VOTING AND PROCEDURES
1. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 3 of this rule, each Member of the Commission shall have one vote. An alternate or adviser shall not have the right to vote except where substituting for the representative.
2. Except as otherwise provided in these rules, decisions of the Commission shall be taken by a majority of the votes cast.
3. At the request of a majority of the Members of the Commission constituting a given region or a group of countries that a standard be elaborated, the standard concerned shall be elaborated as a standard primarily intended for that region or group of countries. When a vote is taken on the elaboration, amendment or adoption of a draft standard primarily intended for a region or group of countries, only Members belonging to that region or group of countries may take part in the voting. The adoption of the standard may, however, take place only after submission of the draft text to all Members of the Commission for comments. The provisions of this paragraph shall not prejudice the elaboration or adoption of a corresponding standard with a different territorial scope.
4. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 5 of this Rule, any Member of the Commission may request a roll-call vote, in which case the vote of each Member shall be recorded.
5. Elections shall be decided by secret ballot, except that, where the number of candidates does not exceed the number of vacancies, the Chairperson may submit to the Commission that the election be decided by clear general consent. Any other matter shall be decided by secret ballot if the Commission so determines.
6. Formal proposals relating to items of the Agenda and amendments thereto shall be introduced in writing and handed to the Chairperson, who shall circulate them to representatives of Members of the Commission.
7. The provisions of Rule XII of the General Rules of FAO shall apply mutatis mutandis to all matters which are not specifically dealt with under Rule VI of the present Rules.
RULE VII OBSERVERS
1. Any Member Nation and any Associate Member of FAO or WHO which is not a Member of the Commission but has a special interest in the work of the Commission, may, upon request communicated to the Director-General of FAO or WHO, attend sessions of the Commission and of its subsidiary bodies as an observer. It may submit memoranda and participate without vote in the discussion.
2. Nations which, while not Member Nations or Associate Members of FAO or WHO, are Members of the United Nations, may, upon their request and subject to the provisions relating to the granting of observer status to nations adopted by the Conference of FAO and the World Health Assembly, be invited to attend in an observer capacity sessions of the Commission and of its subsidiary bodies. The status of nations invited to such sessions shall be governed by the relevant provisions adopted by the Conference of FAO.
3. Any Member of the Commission may attend as an observer the sessions of the subsidiary bodies and may submit memoranda and participate without vote in the discussions.
4. Subject to the provisions of Rule VII.5 the Directors-General of FAO or WHO may invite intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations to attend as observers sessions of the Commission and of its subsidiary bodies.
5. Participation of international organizations in the work of the Commission, and the relations between the Commission and such organizations shall be governed by the relevant provisions of the Constitutions of FAO or WHO, as well as by the applicable regulations of FAO or WHO on relations with international organizations; such relations shall be handled by the Director-General of FAO or of WHO as appropriate.
RULE VIII RECORDS AND REPORTS
1. At each session the Commission shall approve a report embodying its views, recommendations and conclusions, including when requested a statement of minority views. Such other records for its own use as the Commission may on occasion decide shall also be maintained.
2. The report of the Commission shall be transmitted to the Directors General of FAO and WHO at the close of each session, who shall circulate it to the Members of the Commission, to other countries and to organizations that were represented at the session, for their information, and upon request to other Member Nations and Associate Members of FAO and WHO.
3. Recommendations of the Commission having policy, programme or financial implications for FAO and/or WHO shall be brought by the Directors-General to the attention of the governing bodies of FAO and/or WHO for appropriate action.
4. Subject to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the Directors-General of FAO and WHO may request Members of the Commission to supply the Commission with information on action taken on the basis of recommendations made by the Commission.
RULE IX SUBSIDIARY BODIES
1. The Commission may establish the following types of subsidiary bodies:
(a) subsidiary bodies which it deems necessary for the accomplishment of its work in the finalization of draft standards;
(b) subsidiary bodies in the form of:
(i) Codex Committees for the preparation of draft standards for submission to the Commission, whether intended for worldwide use, for a given region or for a group of countries specifically enumerated by the Commission.(ii) Coordinating Committees for regions or groups of countries which shall exercise general coordination in the preparation of standards relating to such regions or groups of countries and such other functions as may be entrusted to them.
2. Subject to paragraph 3 below, membership in these subsidiary bodies shall consist, as may be determined by the Commission, either of such Members of the Commission as have notified the Directors-General of FAO or WHO of their desire to be considered as Members thereof, or of selected Members designated by the Commission.
3. Membership of subsidiary bodies established under Rule IX.1(b)(i) for the preparation of draft standards intended primarily for a region or group of countries, shall be open only to Members of the Commission belonging to such a region or group of countries.
4. Representatives of members of subsidiary bodies shall, insofar as possible, serve in a continuing capacity and shall be specialists active in the fields of the respective subsidiary bodies.
5. Subsidiary bodies may only be established by the "Commission except where otherwise provided in these Rules. Their terms of reference and reporting procedures shall be determined by the Commission, except where otherwise provided in these Rules.
6. Sessions of subsidiary bodies shall be convened by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO:
(a) in the case of bodies established under Rule IX.1 (a), in consultation with the Chairperson of the Commission;(b) in the case of bodies established under Rule IX.1(b)(i) (Codex Committees), in consultation with the chairperson of the respective Codex Committee and also, in the case of Codex Committees for the preparation of draft standards for a given region or group of countries, with the Coordinator, if a Coordinator has been appointed for the region or group of countries concerned;
(c) in the case of bodies established under Rule IX.1(b)(ii) (Coordinating Committees), in consultation with the Chairperson of the Coordinating Committee.
7. The Directors General of FAO and WHO shall determine the place of meeting of bodies established under Rule IX.1(a) and Rule IX.1(b)(ii) after consultation, where appropriate, with the host country concerned and, in the case of bodies established under Rule IX.1(b)(ii), after consultation with the Coordinator for the region or group of countries concerned, if any, or with the Chairperson of the Coordinating Committee.
8. Notice of the date and place of each session of bodies established under Rule IX.1(a) shall be communicated to all Members of the Commission at least two months before the session.
9. The establishment of subsidiary bodies under Rule IX.1(a) and Rule IX.1(b)
(ii) shall be subject to the availability of the necessary funds, as shall the establishment of subsidiary bodies under Rule IX.1(b)(i) when any of their expenses are proposed to be recognized as operating expenses within the budget of the Commission in accordance with Article 10 of the Statutes of the Commission. Before taking any decision involving expenditure in connection with the establishment of such subsidiary bodies, the Commission shall have before it a report from the Director-General of FAO and/or WHO, as appropriate, on the administrative and financial implications thereof.
10. The Members who shall be responsible for appointing Chairpersons of subsidiary bodies established under Rule IX.1(b)(i) shall be designated at each session by the Commission, except where otherwise provided in these Rules, and shall be eligible for re-designation. All other officers of subsidiary bodies shall be elected by the body concerned and shall be eligible for re-election.
11. The Rules of Procedure of the Commission shall apply mutatis mutandis to its subsidiary bodies.
RULE X ELABORATION OF STANDARDS
1. Subject to the provisions of these Rules of Procedure, the Commission may establish the procedures for the elaboration of world wide standards and of standards for a given region or group of countries, and, when necessary, amend such procedures.
RULE XI BUDGET AND EXPENSES
1. The Directors General of FAO and WHO shall prepare for consideration by the Commission at its regular sessions an estimate of expenditure based on the proposed programme of work of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies, together with information concerning expenditures for the previous financial period. This estimate, with such modifications as may be considered appropriate by the Directors General in the light of recommendations made by the Commission, shall subsequently be incorporated in the Regular Budgets of the two Organizations for approval by the appropriate governing bodies.
2. The estimate of expenditure shall make provisions for the operating expenses of the Commission and the subsidiary bodies of the Commission established under Rule IX.1 (a) and IX.1(b)(ii) and for the expenses relating to staff assigned to the Programme and other expenditures incurred in connection with the servicing of the latter.
3. The operating costs of subsidiary bodies established under Rule IX.1(b)(i) (Codex Committees) shall be borne by each Member accepting the Chair of such a body. The estimate of expenditure may include a provision for such costs involved in preparatory work as may be recognized as operating expenses of the Commission in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 of the Statutes of the Commission.
4. Expenses incurred in connection with attendance at sessions of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies and travel of delegations of the Members of the Commission and of observers referred to in Rule VII, shall be borne by the governments or organizations concerned. Should experts be invited by the Directors-General of FAO or WHO to attend sessions of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies in their individual capacity, their expenses shall be borne out of the regular budgetary funds available for the work of the Commission.
RULE XII LANGUAGES
1. The languages of the Commission and of its subsidiary bodies set up under Rule IX.1(a) shall be not less than three of the working languages, as shall be determined by the Commission, which are working languages both of FAO and of the Health Assembly of WHO.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 above, other languages which are working languages either of FAO or of the Health Assembly of WHO may be added by the Commission if
(a) the Commission has before it a report from the Directors General of FAO and WHO on the policy, financial and administrative implications of the addition of such languages; and(b) the addition of such languages has the approval of the Directors General of FAO and WHO.
3. Where a representative wishes to use a language other than a language of the Commission he shall himself provide the necessary interpretation and/or translation into one of the languages of the Commission.
4. Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 3 of this Rule, the languages of subsidiary bodies set up under Rule IX.1(b) shall include at least two of the languages of the Commission.
RULE XIII AMENDMENTS AND SUSPENSION OF RULES
1. Amendments of or additions to these Rules may be adopted by a two thirds majority of the votes cast, provided that 24 hours' notice of the proposal for the amendment or addition has been given. Amendments of or additions to these Rules shall come into force upon approval by the Directors General of FAO and WHO, subject to such confirmation as may be prescribed by the procedures of the two Organizations.
2. The Rules of the Commission, other than Rule I, Rule 11.1, 2, 3 and 6, Rule III, Rule IV.2 and 6, Rule V.I, 4 and 6, Rule VI.1, 2 and 3, Rule VII, Rule VIII.3 and 4, Rule IX.5, 7 and 9, Rule XI, Rule XIII and Rule XIV, may be suspended by the Commission by a two thirds majority of the votes cast, provided that 24 hours' notice of the proposal for suspension has been given. Such notice may be waived if no representative of the Members of the Commission objects.
RULE XIV ENTRY INTO FORCE
1. In accordance with Article 8 of the Statutes of the Commission, these Rules of Procedure shall come into force upon approval by the Directors General of FAO and WHO, subject to such confirmation as may be prescribed by the procedures of the two Organizations. Pending the coming into force of these Rules, they shall apply provisionally.
