The 46th Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) opened 27 November with a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the first CAC meeting. As part of the festivities, all countries that host or have ever hosted a Codex committee were honoured. Among them was Spain, as host of the little-known Joint Codex/International Olive Oil Council (IOOC – formerly IOC) Meeting on the Standardization of Table Olives (CXTO), which worked over two sessions in 1971 and 1973.

The CXTO is mentioned briefly in this year’s CODEX magazine, as part of a short review of milestones through the decades.

In an article in a 1973 edition of the Grasas y Aceites (Fats and Oils) journal, the Codex work is mentioned as follows:

In accordance with the wish expressed by the IOC Member States, at a meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission, held in Geneva in July 1971, it was agreed that the development of the International Food Standard for Olives table would be held in a joint CODEX/IOC meeting whose work would take place in April. From December 13 to 16, 1971, a first meeting was held. From April 24 to 27, 1973, a second meeting was held in Madrid to finalize the Codex International Food Standard for Table Olives, which will be subject to subsequent deliberations in the FAO/WHO Joint Codex Alimentarius Commission, of the appropriate recommendations aimed at the acceptance of the Standard. Representatives and experts from numerous countries participated in the joint meeting: Algeria, Argentina, Chile, Spain, the United States of America, France, Greece, Italy, Morocco, the United Kingdom, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia and Turkey. Representatives of the Council and the Commission of the European Communities also attended.

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