1. The Fourteenth Session of the Joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission was held at the International Conference Centre of Geneva (CICG), from 29 June to 10 July 1981. The session was attended by 282 participants, including the representatives and observers of 56 countries, and observers from 32 international organizations (see Appendix I for List of Participants).
2. The Commission was presided over by its Chairman, Professor Dr. D. Eckert (Federal Republic of Germany) and for certain items of the agenda by the following Vice-Chairmen: Mr. D.A. Akoh (Nigeria) and Mr. E.F. Kimbrell (USA). Apologies for absence were received from the third Vice-Chairman, Dr. E.R. Mendez (Mexico). The Joint Secretaries were Mr. G.O. Kermode (FAO/WHO), Mr. H.J. McNally (FAO/WHO) and Dr. F. Käferstein (WHO).
3. The Fourteenth Session of the Joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission was convened by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO, and was opened with a speech of welcome by Dr. H. Mahler, Director-General of WHO. Dr. Mahler thanked the Geneva Cantonal authorities for making available to the Commission the excellent facilities of the International Conference Centre of Geneva. During the course of his welcoming address, he outlined the views of WHO on the place of the work of the Commission in the broader field of WHO's endeavours and emphasized the importance of the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in contributing towards ensuring the safety of food. Dr. Mahler concluded by expressing the appreciation of WHO and FAO to those member governments which had generously hosted sessions of the Commission's subsidiary bodies since the last session of the Commission. The text of the address of Dr. Mahler is contained in Appendix II to this Report.
5. The Chairman informed the Commission of the deaths of Dr. E. Hüfnagel (Federal Republic of Germany) and Professor Dr. Dols (The Netherlands) since the last session of the Commission. Dr. Hüfnagel had represented the Federal Republic of Germany in numerous Codex committees and had dedicated a great deal of her time to Codex work. She had also been an active member of the Delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany at sessions of the Commission and through her knowledge and experience had contributed substantially to the advancement of Codex work.
The Chairman recalled that Professor Dols had been the second Chairman of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. He had been a distinguished scientist, an internationally known nutritionist and cabinet adviser to the Dutch Minister of Agriculture for many years. He had been a founder member of the Codex Alimentarius Europaeus and of its successor the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission. Professor Dols had dedicated his life's work to the nutrition improvement of many peoples all over the world. The Chairman expressed sympathy to the Delegations of the Federal Republic of Germany and of the Netherlands and to the families of Dr. Hüfnagel and Prof. Dols on behalf of the Commission. The Commission observed a minute's silence in memory of Dr. Hüfnagel and Professor Dols.
6. The Commission adopted the Provisional Agenda and Timetable of the Session.
7. The Commission was informed that the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC) would be proposing, under ‘Other Business’, that the Recommended International Standard for Table Olives be amended. The Commission agreed to consider this proposal.
8. The Delegation of Iraq proposed that for the 15th Session of the Commission the reports of the Coordinating Committees for Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America be considered immediately after the Report of the Codex Committee on General Principles. The Commission agreed that the Executive Committee should consider this proposal.
9. During the session, the Commission elected Professor Dr. D. Eckert (Federal Republic of Germany) as Chairman of the Commission, to serve from the end of the Fourteenth to the end of the Fifteenth Session. The Commission also elected Dr. A.A.M. Hasan (Iraq), Prof. A.H. Ibrahim (Sudan) and Mr. E. Kimbrell (USA) as Vice-Chairmen of the Commission to serve from the end of the Fourteenth to the end of the Fifteenth Session.
10. The following persons were appointed by the Commission as Regional Coordinators for: Africa - Dr. J.K. Misoi (Kenya); Asia - Prof. A. Bhumiratana (Thailand); Latin America - Ing. E.M. Brivio (Uruguay) - to serve from the end of the Fourteenth to the end of the Fifteenth Session of the Commission. The Coordinator for Europe, Prof. Dr. H. Woidich (Austria) who was appointed at the Twelfth Session of the Commission continues to serve to the end of the Fifteenth Session of the Commission.
