CONSIDERATION OF THE CODEX GENERAL STANDARD FOR FOOD ADDITIVES (GSFA) (AGENDA ITEM 7) - REPORT OF THE AD HOC WORKING GROUP ON THE CODEX GENERAL STANDARD FOR FOOD ADDITIVES (AGENDA ITEM 7A)[15]

30. The 31^st Session of the CCFAC decided to reconvene the ad hoc Working Group on the General Standard for Food Additives prior to its current Session under the Chairmanship of the United States.[16] The ad hoc Working Group was chaired by Dr. A. Rulis (USA) and co-chaired by Dr. D. Keefe (USA). Mrs. B. Fabech (Denmark) acted as Rapporteur. The chairman of the Working Group briefly summarized its discussions and proposed several general recommendations to the Committee, as follows:

The Use of Additives as Carriers

31. The Committee discussed additives (e.g., beta cyclodextrin and polyethylene glycol) that might be used as carriers for other additives (e.g., flavouring agents) in relation to their inclusion in the GSFA. As an example, it was noted that beta cyclodextrin, which was used as a carrier for flavourings used in water based drinks, may not have a technological effect in the drink itself.

32. The Committee therefore agreed with the recommendation of the WG to request comments on the use of additives used as carriers for consideration at the next session of the CCFAC.

Relationship between Codex Commodity Standards and the GSFA

33. A number of delegations expressed concern about the apparent confusion between provisions for food additives in Codex commodity standards and for the same foods in the GSFA. The delegation of Switzerland asked the CCFAC to undertake, as a matter of priority, a cross reference between food additive provisions contained in Codex commodity standards and those contained in the GSFA to eliminate inconsistencies.

34. The Codex Secretariat reiterated previous decisions of the Codex Alimentarius Commission on the general relationship between Codex commodity standards and the GSFA:

• All provisions in respect of food additives (including processing aids) .... contained in Codex Commodity Standards should be referred ... and will require to be endorsed by the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (Codex Alimentarius Commission Procedural Manual, Eleventh Edition, page 93).
• The Preamble to the Codex General Standard for Food Additives states in part that "This standard sets forth the conditions under which permitted food additives may be used in foods, whether or not they have previously been standardized by Codex. The food additive provisions of Codex Commodity Standards shall be included in and superseded by the provision of this standard" (Codex STAN 192-1995, Rev. 2-1999, Section 1.2).
• Continued priority should be given to the Commission's horizontal science based work and will continue to reduce its work on commodity-specific standards in favour of horizontal or general standards. The modernization of existing commodity standards and the transfer of material from commodity standards to applicable general standards should be completed in this period (Medium Term Plan for 1998 to 2002, General Approaches and Issues, ALINORM 99/37, Appendix II, page 93).

35. In view of fact that the Commission was in the process of transferring material from Codex commodity standards to horizontal science based standards, the Committee agreed with the recommendation of the WG that the relationship between Codex commodity standards and the GSFA during this transition period should be further examined and clarified. The Committee therefore accepted the offer of the Codex Secretariat to prepare a discussion paper on the relationship between Codex commodity standards and the further development of the GSFA for circulation, comment and consideration at the next meeting of the CCFAC, especially as related to the food additive provisions of Codex commodity standards when they are more restrictive than those contained in the GSFA.

Food Category System

36. The Committee agreed with the Food Category System presented in the WG report, which was revised based on discussions at the 31^st Session of the CCFAC. The Committee also agreed with additional editorial amendments to the Food Category System as recommended by the WG to food categories 04.0, 04.2, 05.2 and 12.2.

37. The delegation of Italy, supported by Portugal speaking on behalf of the Member States of the European Union, suggested additional changes to Category 6.4 (Pasta and noodles and like products) by adding sub-categories 6.4.1 (pasta) and 6.4.2 (noodle-like products); the representative of the EC suggested additional changes to Category 13.1 (infant formulae and follow-on formulae). The Committee therefore agreed that the Food Category System (see Appendix VIII) would be circulated for comment and further consideration at the next session of the CCFAC. As the Committee noted that revisions to the Food Category System would also result in significant revisions to Tables 1 and 2 of the GSFA, it agreed that a clear explanation of the types of foods included in the proposed revision(s) should be adequately explained in the comments submitted.

Future of the GSFA Quality Control Group

38. The Committee decided to reestablish the GSFA quality control group (Australia, Brazil, Japan, South Africa, the United States, EC) to perform a quality check on the source data for the additives in Groups VI and VII (CRD 1, Appendix I). In addition, the Committee agreed that the United States would select 20 additives from group V for which data had already been considered by the quality control group for discussion by the CCFAC next year.