1. The Sixteenth Session of the Joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission was held at the International Conference Centre, Geneva from 1 to 12 July 1985. The Session was attended by 280 participants, including the representatives and observers of 49 countries and observers from 38 international organizations (see Appendix I for List of Participants).
2. The Commission was presided over by its Chairman, Mr. E.F. Kimbrell (USA) and for certain items of the agenda by the following Vice-Chairmen: Dr. Ms. A. Brincker 1 (Denmark), Dr. A.A.M. Hasan 2 (Iraq) and Dr. E.R. Mendez 3 (Mexico). The Joint Secretaries were Mr. H.J. McNally (FAO/WHO) and Dr. F. Käferstein (WHO).
3. The Session was opened by the Director-General of WHO, Dr. H. Mahler, the text of whose address is contained in Appendix II of this Report. The response of the Chairman is contained in Appendix III.
4. The Chairman informed the Commission that Professor A. Bhumiratana (Thailand), Coordinator for Asia, had recently passed away. The Chairman referred to Professor Bhumiratana's active participation in Codex work since its inception and to his great contribution to Codex work on behalf of the developing countries, in the Commission and other Codex fora. The Commission observed a minute's silence in memory of Professor Bhumiratana.
5. Mr. G.O. Kermode, former Chief of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme, who had recently retired from FAO was invited by the Chairman to address the Commission 4. In his response, the Chairman stated that it was largely due to the initiative and managerial ability of Mr. Kermode that the Codex Alimentarius Commission had become the respected worldwide body it is today. The Chairman thanked Mr. Kermode, on behalf of the Commission, for all he had done for Codex over his more than 20 years as Chief of the Food Standards Programme and wished him a happy and long retirement. The Chairman also wished his successor Dr. R.K. Malik (FAO) every success in his new assignment.
6. The Commission adopted the Provisional Agenda and Timetable of the Session with a slight rearrangement of the order of items to enable item 21 (a) to be dealt with in conjunction with item 26 (b), under item 26.
7. During the Session, the Commission elected Mr. E.F. Kimbrell (USA) as Chairman of the Commission to serve from the end of the Sixteenth to the end of the Seventeenth Session. The Commission also elected Dr. Mrs. A. Brincker (Denmark), Dr. E. Méndez (Mexico) and Dr. L. Twum-Danso (Ghana) as Vice-Chairmen of the Commission to serve from the end of the Sixteenth to the end of the Seventeenth Session.
8. The following persons were appointed by the Commission as Regional Coordinators for: Africa - Dr. A. Randolph (Togo); Asia - Dr. Roestamsjah (Indonesia); Europe - Mr. P. Rossier (Switzerland); Latin America and the Caribbean - Minister Ing. R. Darias Rodés (Cuba), to serve from the end of the Sixteenth to the end of the Seventeenth Session of the Commission.
