In the world of international food standards, a key committee is preparing for a significant task: establishing a group standard for whole millet grains. Ken Lowery, United States of America, a long-serving delegates within the Codex Alimentarius Commission, steps into the chair's role for CCCPL11, bringing nearly two decades of experience to the table.

As the committee shifts to working through correspondence, we interviewed Ken to learn more about the challenges and opportunities of this new working method, the agenda of the committee, and his vision for fostering consensus among diverse Members.

Hi Ken, thanks for your time. You are a well-known face in Codex having participated in Codex work for many years. This time, as Chairperson of CCCPL11, your role will change significantly. How have your previous experiences prepared you for this new role? And how are you getting ready for it?

Yes, I have over 17 years of experience working in Codex Alimentarius in various roles. These range from being on a delegation and being the delegate to advising the member elected on a geographic basis to CCEXEC, acting as the host country secretariat, and chairing physical and virtual working groups. While stepping up to chair an actual committee is a new role for me, I hope that all those years of experience will serve me well. To prepare myself for the committee, I am not only going over all the committee documents and the handbook for chairs but am also revisiting the Codex Procedural Manual to ensure that we get everything procedurally correct. I encourage delegates to also have these documents at hand for our committee session.

Talking about the Codex Procedural Manual, CCCPL now works by correspondence. What does working this way involve and how should delegates prepare? And how is your team gearing up for it?

Working via correspondence poses some unique challenges and some unique opportunities. Instead of making verbal interventions, the heads of delegation submit their interventions in writing on the Codex forum. This can make it slower than a physical committee, however the advantage is that it gives delegations greater time to consider other countries’ positions and to understand their viewpoint. In my view, this can lead to more thoughtfulness and enable greater consensus around outcomes.

Delegates should approach this session with the goal of developing an international standard that works for all countries and not one that creates barriers to trade. Of course, delegates will have their national positions, but they need to understand the distinction between an international standard and a national standard. International standards should be inclusive of their practices, but not exclude other countries’ practices in the process. This is particularly important since our task going forward will be the development of a group standard.

As you just mentioned, CCCPL will be developing a group standard for whole millets grains.  How are you planning for the Committee to approach this work bearing in mind the request to consider existing Codex texts related to millets?

Fortunately, as CCCPL has existing standards for millets, it will make our job easier in some ways, as our goal is to broaden those standards to incorporate more varieties. We do need to be cognizant that the existing standards have governed international trade and ensured food safety for years and we do not want to undermine that.  But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Our main order of business for CCCPL11 is to develop Terms of Reference (TOR) for an Electronic Working Group (EWG) that will do the initial drafting of the group standard for whole millet grains. It is very important that we get the TOR right as they will govern all our work to develop the group standard. CCCPL11, in its discussions about the TOR, will determine how the EWG will work on the structure and the scope of the group standard and whether it will include existing millet standards.

At CCCPL11, we will also select the chair and the co-chair(s), if applicable, of the EWG. It is very important that we select an EWG chair and co-chair(s) that understand their role. They should not be advocating or advancing their national position in the development of the standard. As a chair, they are meant to be neutral and guide the members to consensus, taking into account all viewpoints and all concerns. If we establish clear and thorough TOR and select a suitable EWG chair and co-chair(s), it will pave the way for the committee to be successful.

Anything else you would like to add?

I am looking forward to chairing the committee and working with all of the delegates. In my many years in Codex, I have always been impressed by the quality of the delegates, not just their technical knowledge, but also their ability to see the big picture and to develop standards that ensure food safety worldwide and that are trade liberalizing. It is really the delegates that make this work a joy.

Read more

CCCPL11 webpage