Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS)
| FAO/WHO ID No: | CX-733 |
| Reference: | CX/FICS |
| Terms of Reference: | (a) to develop principles and guidelines for food import and export inspection and certification systems with a view to harmonising methods and procedures which protect the health of consumers, ensure fair trading practices and facilitate international trade in foodstuffs; (b) to develop principles and guidelines for the application of measures by the competent authorities of exporting and importing countries to provide assurance where necessary that foodstuffs comply with requirements, especially statutory health requirements; (c) to develop guidelines for the utilisation, as and when appropriate, of quality assurance systems to ensure that foodstuffs conform with requirements and to promote the recognition of these systems in facilitating trade in food products under bilateral/multilateral arrangements by countries; (d) to develop guidelines and criteria with respect to format, declarations and language of such official certificates as countries may require with a view towards international harmonization; (e) to make recommendations for information exchange in relation to food import/export control; (f) to consult as necessary with other international groups working on matters related to food inspection and certification systems; and, (g) to consider other matters assigned to it by the Commission in relation to food inspection and certification systems. Quality assurance means all those planned and systematic actions necessary to provide adequate confidence that a product or service will satisfy given requirements for quality (ISO-8402 Quality - Vocabulary) |
| Status: | Active |
| Host: | Australia |
Related Electronic Working Groups
| Title (click for details) | Committee | Lang | Host | CO-host | Reg. deadline | Closing date | Status | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Principles for the Digitalisation of National Food Control Systems (NFCS) | CCFICS 27 | English | Australia | CAN,JAM,NLD,GBR | 26/03/2025 | 31/03/2026 | Active | Invitation Forum |
| Guidance on the standardization of the representation of sanitary requirements | CCFICS 27 | English | Brazil | AUS,IND,KEN,ESP,UGA | 28/02/2025 | Active | Invitation Forum | |
| Guidelines on appeal mechanism for the rejection of imported food | CCFICS 27 | English | India | AUS,CHL,KEN,NGA | 17/02/2025 | 31/03/2026 | Active | Invitation Forum |
| Consolidation of guidance on Equivalence | CCFICS 27 | English | New Zealand | Kenya | 17/01/2025 | Active | Invitation Forum | |
| Preparation of draft guidelines on the prevention and control of food fraud | CCFICS 27 | English, Spanish | United States of America | CHN,EUR,IRN,PAN,GBR | 15/01/2025 | Active | Invitation Forum | |
| Establishment listing guidance | CCFICS 27 | English | Norway | AUS,IND,MAR,SAU,ESP | 15/01/2025 | Active | Invitation Forum | |
| Revision to the Principles and guidelines on traceability/product tracing as a tool within a Food Inspection and Certification System (CXG 60-2006) | CCFICS 27 | English, Spanish | United States of America | AUS,ECU,HND,GBR | 15/01/2025 | Active | Invitation Forum | |
| Proposed Draft Guidelines on the Prevention and Control of Food Fraud | CCFICS 26 | English | United States of America | CHN,EUR,IRN,GBR | 01/09/2023 | 15/03/2024 | Closed | Invitation Forum |
| Proposed Draft Revision of the Principles for Traceability/Product Tracing as a Tool Within a Food Inspection and Certification System (CXG 60-2006) | CCFICS 26 | English, Spanish | United States of America | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the) | 10/08/2023 | 31/05/2024 | Closed | Invitation Forum |
| Consolidation of guidance on Equivalence | CCFICS 26 | English | New Zealand | KEN,USA | 28/07/2023 | Closed | Invitation Forum | |
| Development of principles and guidelines on the use of remote audit and verification in regulatory frameworks | CCFICS 25 | English, French, Spanish | Australia | CAN,CHN,SGP | 09/01/2023 | Closed | Invitation Forum | |
| Discussion Paper on Developing Guidance on Traceability/Product Tracing | CCFICS 25 | English | United States of America | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the) | 13/09/2021 | Closed | Invitation Forum | |
| Guidance on the Prevention and Control of Food Fraud | CCFICS 25 | English, Spanish | United States of America | CHN,EUR,IRN,GBR | 06/09/2021 | 31/05/2022 | Closed | Invitation Forum |
| CCFICS proposed draft guidance on paperless use of electronic certificates | CCFICS 24 | English | Netherlands | Australia | 12/04/2019 | 30/10/2020 | Closed | Invitation Forum |
| Draft principles and guidelines for the assessment and use of voluntary third-party assurance | CCFICS 24 | English, Spanish | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the) | CAN,MEX | 28/02/2019 | Closed | Invitation Forum | |
| CCFICS Food Fraud | CCFICS 24 | English | United States of America | EUR,IRN | 19/02/2019 | 08/05/2020 | Closed | Invitation Forum |
| Guidelines on recognition and maintenance of equivalence of National Food Control Systems (NFCS) | CCFICS 24 | English | New Zealand | CHL,USA | 21/01/2019 | 08/05/2020 | Closed | Invitation Forum |
| Guidance on regulatory approaches to third party assurance schemes in food safety and fair practices in the food trade (new work) | CCFICS 23 | English | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the) | CAN,MEX | 18/09/2017 | 30/04/2018 | Closed | Invitation |
| EWG on Food Integrity and Food Authenticity | CCFICS 23 | English | Iran (Islamic Republic of) | CAN,EUR | 31/08/2017 | 30/04/2018 | Closed | Invitation Forum |
| Guidance on the use of systems equivalence (new work) | CCFICS 23 | English, Spanish | New Zealand | CHL,USA | 21/08/2017 | 30/04/2018 | Closed | Invitation |
| Guidance on paperless use of electronic certificates (new work) | CCFICS 23 | English | Netherlands | Australia | 01/08/2017 | 31/05/2018 | Closed | Invitation Forum |