52. The Commission had before it document ALINORM 83/6 which contained three sections, Section A. - Joint FAO/WHO Activities, Section B. - Report on FAO Activities and Section C. - Report on WHO Activities.
Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR) - 1982
53. The relevant details on the 1982 session are covered in the document.
Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)
54. The FAO Joint Secretary of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives briefed the Commission on the 26th (1982) and 27th (1983) sessions of the Committee. While relevant details of the 26th Session are covered in ALINORM 83/6 the Commission was informed that a total of 63 compounds were evaluated at the 27th Session. In addition, arsenic, iron and two zenobiotic anabolic agents (trenbolone acetate and zeranol) were also evaluated as food contaminants. The comprehensive review of this latter group of compounds led the Committee to a number of conclusions which were brought to the attention of the Commission. In the case of two compounds, i.e. Buthylated hydroxyanisole and potassium bromate the Committee further decided to publish its decisions immediately after the Session, in order to respond quickly to requests from Member States.
55. The Commission took note of the information provided and recommended that efforts should be made to publish a short summary of the conclusions after each session, as in the past. The Observer from the Fédération Internationale des Industries du Commerce en Gros de Vins, Spiritueux, Eaux-de-Vie et Liqueurs (FIVS) also suggested that a copy of this information should be shared with them.
56. The Chairman referred to the 30th Session of the Executive Committee (ALINORM 83/4) during which some consideration was given to the proper ways and means of evaluating certain chemicals used in animal husbandry and veterinary medicines also suggesting that this matter be considered under Agenda Item 13 (see paras. 156–162).
57. Irradiated Foods
(i) Microbiological Safety of Irradiated Foods
In addition to the information provïded in ALINORM 83/6 the Commission was informed that the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene, at its session in 1979 (ALINORM 79/13), had expressed concern about the effect of irradiation on microorganisms in food. For this reason, although a Joint FAO/IAEA/WHO Expert Committee on the Wholesomeness of Irradiated Food (JECFI) had in 1980 concluded (TRS 659) that irradiation of any food up to an overall average dose of 10 kGy introduced no special microbiological problem, WHO, jointly with FAO, had decided to ask for a second opinion from specialists in food microbiology who had not taken part in the JECFI meeting in 1980. The International Committee on Food Microbiology and Hygiene of the International Union on Microbiological Societies, was, therefore, asked if these concerns were justified or if sufficient scientific research had been performed to alleviate them. The Board of this Committee under the Chairmanship of Professor D. Mossel, Utrecht/NL, during its meeting in December 1982 in Copenhagen, concluded, after having analysed the scientific knowledge to date, that it was satisfied that there was no cause for concern. Irradiation-induced genetic mutation of pathogens in food did not create an increased hazard to health, and, in the Board's opinion, there would be no qualitative difference between the kind of mutation induced by ionising irradiation and that induced by any other pasteurization/partial preservation methods such as heat treatment or vacuum drying. Modern food technology was adequate to control problems created by suppression of spoilage microorganisms. Food irradiation was seen as an important addition to the methods of control of foodborne pathogens and would not present any additional hazard to health. The report on the meeting was available as Codex document CX/FH 83/9.
(ii) International Consultative Group on Food Irradiation
With the termination of the International Project on Food Irradiation (IFIP) at the end of 1981, a need had been felt in many countries for a continuation of international cooperation on food irradiation. To this end, the Directors-General of FAO, IAEA and WHO had written a joint letter to their Member States on 13/7/82 inviting them to indicate officially their interest in this field. As a consequence of this, 55 Member States had replied to this letter and 54 had indicated their interest in the continuation of international cooperation on food irradiation. Twenty Member States attended a meeting in Vienna, which took place on 24 February 1983. The representatives of Member States at this meeting, after due consideration and deliberation, had adopted a Declaration in which they agreed that an International Consultative Group on Food Irradiation be established by the interested governments for an initial period of five years. This Consultative Group would not be a part of either FAO, IAEA or WHO, but would cooperate with them as indicated in the Declaration. This Consultative Group would become operational when at least 15 Member States had sent a letter of acceptance to the Director-General of either FAO, IAEA or WHO.
Joint FAO/WHO Food Contamination Monitoring Programme
58. The Commission was informed that this Programme had been initiated in 1976 and that so far 22 countries were participating in the programme. One institution in each of these countries had been designated as Collaboration Centre for the Programme. Other Member States of both FAO and WHO had been invited to collaborate with the programme, in order to establish national food contamination monitoring and participate in the international programme. They had also been invited to study the various publications which were produced under the programme, the latest being the “Analytical Quality Assurance of Monitoring Data”, which was published in 1981 and “Summary and Assessment of Data Received from the FAO/WHO Collaborating Centres for Food Contamination Monitoring”, which was issued in 1982.
59. The Commission was further informed that “Guidelines for the Study of Dietary Intakes of Chemical Contaminants” were being issued, and that a further session of the Technical Advisory Committee was scheduled for Autumn 1983.
Guidelines for Can Manufacturers and Food Canners on the Prevention of Lead and Tin Contamination of Canned Foods
60. The Commission was informed that as a part of FAO/WHO efforts toward the control of food contamination a guideline on the above subject had been drafted and was scheduled for publication during 1983.
61. The Commission was informed that except for the JMPR, the joint FAO/WHO activities, as well as the FAO activities, referred to in ALINORM 83/6 were part of the responsibilities of the FAO Food Quality and Standards Service. The document did not deal with several other FAO related activities such as prevention of food losses, zoonoses control, etc. which would also have a bearing on the work of the Commission.
62. The following activities relating to cooperation with member governments, particularly of developing countries, mentioned in Part B of the paper were introduced in more detail:
Strengthening of food control and food quality control systems and infrastructures including advice on and assistance for food legislation, setting up of laboratories and inspectorate staff.
National food quality control strategy workshops to develop coherent strategies for promoting and developing food control systems. Recommendations from several of such national workshops were now being considered for implementation at high policy and technical levels. Reference was made to the forthcoming Joint CARICOM/PAHO/FAO Regional Workshop to be held in Antigua in November 1983.
Food contamination surveys. Particular reference was invited to the FAO/NORWAY Food Contamination Study for Asia and the Far East and several national food contamination studies being supported by FAO.
Mycotoxins - prevention, control and monitoring. Special reference was made to the FAO/UNDP/African Groundnut Council project in operation since 1978 - second phase starting in 1984.
Training, which received the highest priority. Several international and national training courses were organized for the control of environmental contaminants in foods. Special attention given to training in maintenance and repair of scientific instruments.
Food handling. A comparatively new activity for improvement of food handling practices at village and household levels with a view to ensuring quality, safety and wholesomeness of food and thus improving nutritional status of the population. A regional workshop in south-eastern African countries held in Lusaka in 1982 with participation of 5 countries. A similar workshop for about 13 Asian countries to be held in Thailand in November 1983. As several problems of food quality and safety, as well as food losses, stem from improper handling of food, the activities in the subject area should meet the needs of nutrition, food safety, consumer protection and rural development.
Publication. Besides the existing publications, a new one on “Post Harvest Losses in Quality of Food grains” to be issued in 1983 was referred to.
Pesticide residues. A second Government Consultation on International Harmonization of Pesticide Registration Requirements had been held in 1982 which had made recommendations concerning the control of the use of pesticides, their transport, labelling and of the disposal of surplus pesticide containers and various other aspects. The FAO Consultation had also made a review of the current status of pesticide registration procedures and requirements. Furthermore, FAO was actively assisting member countries, on request, in strengthening laboratory and organizational infrastructures for the control of pesticides.
63. The Commission was informed that several WHO programmes and/or units were engaged in activities which touched upon matters related to food safety and that technical cooperation activities were mainly carried out by WHO Regional Offices. The following activities were introduced in more detail concerning what WHO had done or was undertaking related to food safety:
(i) Guidelines
Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality (available in mid-1983)
Guidelines in Slaughter Techniques and Meat Hygiene under Austere Conditions (under preparation)
Guide to Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (available end 1983)
Guidelines on Salmonellosis (Prevention and Control) (under preparation)
Inventory of Audio-visual Aids on Food Safety (available end of 1983)
Manual on Food Virology (under preparation)
Training Guidelines on Safe Food Handling in Hotels, Restaurants and Similar Establishments (available end of (1983)
Guidelines for the Development of Educational Material on Safe Food, Environmental and Personal Hygiene (available 1984)
Professional Profile for the Food Inspectors (available in 1984).
(ii) Symposium on the Health Effects of Heavy Metals in Infant Formula and Junior Food
This symposium, jointly sponsored by WHO and the Joint FAO/WHO Collaborating Centre on Food Contamination Monitoring (Centre for Surveillance and Health Evaluation of Environmental Chemicals of the Federal Health Office in Berlin (West), took place in November 1981. The proceedings have been published in early 1983 by Springer, Berlin/ Heidelberg/New York.
(iii) WHO Surveillance Programme for Control of Food-borne Infections and Intoxications in Europe
Several Member States of the European Region collaborate in the efforts to establish a surveillance programme for food-borne diseases. It is hoped that the experience gathered in this activity can be applied to other regions of the world.
(iv) Seminar on the Organization and Management of Food Control Services
The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, jointly with the WHO Regional Office for Europe, sponsored this seminar in 1982 which was held in and received technical input from the Joint FAO/WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Food Hygiene, Robert von Ostertag-Institute, Berlin (West).
(v) International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS)
The Commission was informed that the membership of the IPCS had increased substantially since its last session. IPCS had been able to considerably strengthen the WHO contribution to both the JECFA and JMPR by means of extending the contributions of WHO Temporary Advisers. The Environmental Health Criteria Programme of IPCS was also progressing well and had elaborated several documents of relevance to food safety, e.g. the criteria documents on mycotoxins, lead, mercury, DDT and PCBs.
(vi) Health Legislation
WHO continued to publish a quarterly journal, the International Digest of Health Legislation, in English and French editions. National and international legal texts dealing, inter alia, with food safety and nutrition were regularly published, usually in summary forms. It included also book reviews and reports on conferences, etc. and would, therefore, be a valuable information source for public health (including food safety), administrators and the like.
(vii) International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes (for details see para. 376).
(viii) Nutritional Value and Safety of Products Specifically Intended for Infant and Young Child Feeding (for details see para. 377).
64. The Commission took note of the FAO and WHO activities complementary to its work and stressed their importance in furthering the Commission's objectives. The special need for assistance to developing countries in the implementation of their national programmes for ensuring the quality and safety of food, consumer protection, and the recommendations of the Commission, was emphasized.
65. The Delegation of Cuba referred to its paper, document ALINORM 83/42 contributing ideas to further the objectives of the Commission's work. In view of the statements made by representatives of FAO and WHO on this agenda item, the Delegation was pleased to note that most of the ideas referred to in their paper had been either acted upon or were being pursued within FAO, WHO or the Commission Secretariat.
REPORTS ON ACTIVITIES OF OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS WORKING ON THE STANDARDIZATION OF FOODS AND RELATED MATTERS
66. The Observer from the UNECE indicated that copies of a report on the activities of the UNECE Working Party on Standardization of Perishable Produce had been made available to the Commission. As regards developments concerning arrangements to avoid duplication of effort between Codex work and UNECE work on standardization, the Observer from the UNECE indicated that these developments had been well summed up in the report of the 30th Session of the Executive Committee (ALINORM 83/4, paragraphs 17–19). On the matter of ensuring greater knowledge of Codex work in other UN Agencies, the Observer from the UNECE stated that he would contact the appropriate Divisions in UNECE and inform them of the work of the Codex programme and about the concerns expressed in the Commission on the need to avoid duplication of effort.
67. The Observer from the EEC stated that there were some inaccuracies in the section of the report of the 29th Session of the Executive Committee dealing with consultations which had taken place between the Codex Secretariat and officials of the Commission of the EEC (ALINORM 83/3, paragraphs 54–69). The Observer from the EEC expressed the view that the differences between EEC Directives and the corresponding Codex standards were rather minor. In this connection, he made specific reference to the standards for fruit juices and the standard for chocolate.
68. Although it was not the intention of the EEC to elaborate specific standards for edible fats and oils, he thought that edible fats and oils which were in conformity with Codex standards should not encounter any significant difficulties in entering the territory of the EEC. He indicated that the Codex General Standard for the Labelling of Pre-packaged Foods had been used as a model for the EEC Directive on Food Labelling. Since then, the EEC had made some changes in the rules on food labelling and had brought these changes to the attention of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling, which was now revising the General Standard for the Labelling of Pre-packaged Foods. The revised version of the Codex General Standard, as it was now emerging, was very similar to the EEC Directive and this would be a big step in facilitating international trade in food. He concluded by stating that the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission was very helpful and much appreciated in the EEC and he considered that the ongoing dialogue between Codex and the EEC was also very helpful and should be of benefit both to Codex and to the EEC.
69. The Observer from the CMEA indicated that a brief report on the activities of the CMEA (LIM 11) had been made available to the Commission. He indicated that Hungary was continuing its work of comparing CMEA and Codex Standards, with a view to bringing the CMEA standards into line with the Codex standards, as far as possible.
70. The Observer from ASMO indicated that a progress report of the activities of ASMO had been made available to the Commission. He stated that it was the aim of ASMO to have Arab standards as close as possible to Codex standards. He expressed satisfaction at the strong emphasis being placed in the Commission on the needs of developing countries. He added that ASMO wished to adopt as many as possible of the Codex standards but, stressed the need for more internationally agreed methods of analysis.
71. In the absence of an official representative from IWO, the Delegation of France spoke on behalf of that organization. IWO had set up a working party and had held a meeting in 1982 on labelling of wines. The standard on the labelling of wines which IWO was developing was intended to supplement the Codex General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods, by laying down certain specific provisions for wines. The IWO draft standard on labelling of wines would be considered by IWO in October 1983. When the text is finalized a copy would be sent to the Codex Secretariat.
72. The Chairman informed the Commission that the Codex Secretariat had received a communication from the Council of Europe stating that, owing to unforeseen circumstances, it would not be possible for the CE to be represented at the Commission's current session. The communication received from the Council of Europe had indicated that a progress report on activities of interest in the CE had recently been forwarded to the Secretariat.
73. The Commission noted that a report on the activities of the ISO Technical Committee 34 (Agricultural Food Products) had been prepared by the Secretariat of ISO/TC 34. The report was made available to the Commission.
74. The Commission was addressed by Mr. C.W. McMillan, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, reaffirming the United States' commitment to the goals of the Commission. The United States considered the Codex programme the primary organization for the promotion of food safety and its positive impact on world-wide trade in foodstuffs could help achieve strong economies, a universal goal of governments. Particular attention was drawn to the need for avoiding duplication within the United Nations Framework and in this connection reference was made to the ECOSOC Draft Guidelines for Consumer Protection and the United Nations effort to prepare a consolidated list of products harmful to health and environment, which would have applied to food additives, pesticide residues and other contaminants.
75. The full text of the Assistant Secretary's address is attached as Appendix IV to this report.
76. In response to the need for coordination and the two specific instances referred to above, the Secretariat informed the Commission that FAO had been closely involved from the beginning in the development of the Draft Guidelines for Consumer Protection being considered by ECOSOC. It had been recognized that FAO was in fact the lead agency in consumer protection in the food area and there was no duplication on this score. It was further stated that the Draft Guidelines gave full cognizance to the Codex work.
77. As regards the preparation of a consolidated list of hazardous products, both FAO and WHO were involved in the exercise. FAO had taken strong objection to the inclusion of food additives and pesticides in the draft list. FAO had further suggested that a clearer set of criteria be established for the inclusion of the substances in this list and that it need not cover all sorts of chemical referred to above for which well-established mechanisms for their use existed. FAO was hopeful that due consideration would be given to its views before the finalization of the list.
78. The Commission was addressed by Mr. Ramon Darias Rodés, Minister-President of the Cuban State Committee for Standardization, Metrology and Quality Control, in fulfillment of an agreement with the Movement on Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries. The Minister informed the Commission of the results of the First Meeting of Experts in Standardization, Metrology and Quality Control from the Movement of Non-Aligned and other Developing Countries, held in Havana from 28 to 30 September 1981. The meeting, which had been attended by 29 countries and 2 international organizations, had discussed the role of standardization in the establishment of a new International Economic Order and had agreed on guidelines for future activities. The Minister also referred to the Final Declaration of the Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs from Non-Aligned Countries, held in New Delhi, in February 1981, in which the importance of standardization, metrology and quality control activities in the process of industrialization, transfer of technology and technical cooperation among developing countries was recognized, as was also the importance of these activities in encouraging and promoting better trade relations. The Minister emphasized the importance of the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The full text of the Minister's address is attached as Appendix V to this Report.
79. The Chairman thanked the Minister for his statement, which constituted a very valuable contribution to the Commission's deliberations. The Chairman expressed appreciation, on behalf of the Commission, of the Minister's recognition of the efforts of the Commission in placing increased emphasis on the needs and concerns of the developing countries. The Chairman added that the Commission would do its utmost within the framework of its Statutes, to respond to the needs of the developing countries.
80. The Commission had before it document ALINORM 83/35 which was introduced by the Secretariat. The Commission noted that this document, which was for information purposes only, had been considered by the Executive Committee at its 29th Session (ALINORM 83/3, paragraphs 40–44). The Commission endorsed the view of the Executive Committee that the paper was a very comprehensive and useful document. The Commission also agreed with the conclusion in the paper, as set out in paragraphs 32–33 of the document, and which had been reproduced in the report of the Executive Committee.
81. The Commission wished to emphasize the importance which it attached to its mandate to promote coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organizations. The Commission instructed its Secretariat to follow closely any developments in the food standards and related foods in other international organizations, which might be of interest to the Commission.
82. The WHO Joint Secretary of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Safety briefed the Commission on the highlights of the meeting and drew particular attention to paragraphs 35–39 of the Report of the 30th Session of the Executive Committee (ALINORM 83/4).
83. The Executive Committee had commended WHO and FAO for convening this Expert Committee on Food Safety and had hoped that WHO and FAO could address the problem associated with contaminated food by making - inter alia - greater use of the standards and codes developed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. It had offered its full support for the improvement of food safety throughout the world.
84. The Commission noted the report on the Expert Committee on Food Safety and the views expressed by its Executive Committee, which were endorsed. The Commission again emphasized the need for technical cooperation with developing countries in this important area, so that the strategies recommended by the Expert Committee could be suitably implemented.
