The 89th Session of the Codex Executive Committee (CCEXEC) has concluded at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy with adoption of the report after “a good and productive session,” according to Allan Azegele, Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

Azegele commended the delegates for their “extreme commitment to Codex”. He said: “It’s not easy for the work to get where it does without your commitment.,” and referring to next week’s Codex Alimentarius Commission meeting, he continued: “We should be ready to engage and I think we have a productive Commission meeting ahead of us.”

In its role of the executive organ of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), CCEXEC serves to guide the Commission on the general direction of the work programme and strategic planning. In considering how to advise CAC on the work programme, CCEXEC conducted a critical review of the work of recent committees. Work forwarded to CAC for adoption was agreed upon and new work proposals considered. These were also agreed upon, with the Committee noting that the proposed work to convert the Regional standard for laver products (Asia) (CXS 323R-2017) to an international standard would ideally be carried out by the Codex Committee on Fish and Fishery Products (CCFFP). This would require an update to CCFFP’s terms of reference.

A pre-session workshop held to give the Committee time to discuss in full the proposed monitoring framework for the upcoming Codex Strategic Plan 2026–2031 smoothed the way for full agreement on this topic in-session.

In discussing issues not directly connected to standard-setting work, but that are of critical importance to CAC’s work, CCEXEC agreed to advise CAC to highlight the importance of having sufficient resources to support the provision of scientific advice to Codex. In addition, and in recognition of the financial challenges faced by the Codex Trust Fund (CTF) and the Fund’s consequent phase-out, the Committee recommends that CAC48 encourage Members to consider how eligible countries can now be supported to build their Codex capacities.

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CCEXEC89 webpage