Food Law News - FAO/WHO/WTO/Codex - 2000
28-30 June 2000
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (47th Session)
WHO Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland
The Executive Committee:
- noted the changes to the General Rules of FAO concerning electronic voting (para. 9);
- welcomed the decision of the World Health Assembly concerning increased involvement and support of WHO in the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and its committees (paras. 11-12);
- asked that resources requirements for high priority areas of the Commission's work be identified (para. 15);
- agreed that many of the recommendations of the FAO Conference on World Food Trade beyond 2000: Science-based Decisions, Harmonization, Equivalence and Mutual Recognition should be incorportaed into the Medium-Term Plan and that others were already being acted upon (paras.22-26);
- noted, in regard to risk communication, the need to explore strategies to collect information from all regions of the world (para. 23);
- requested to be kept informed of developments concerning the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the World Trade Organization, and on OECD/G-8 recommendations of biotechnology and other aspects of food safety (paras. 27-32);
- requested the Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables to discuss the implications of the OECD proposal to estbalish a single international grade standards setting body (paras. 33-34);
- agreed that the next Medium-Term Plan be drafted by a small group consisting of the Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons (paras. 36-41);
- approved 24 items of new work by Codex subsidiary committees/task forces and advanced 12 proposed draft standards to Step 6 (paras. 43-49 and Appendices II and III);
- made the general observation that justification for new work proposals should be properly documented (para. 44);
- welcomed the proposal to reactivate the Committee on Meat Hygiene to review the existing codes of practice and agreed that the mandate of the Committee should be extended to include poultry (para. 46);
- confirmed that responsibility for a system-wide approach to the consideration of "other legitimate factors" rested with the Committee on General Principles and that no further action on this matter should be taken by other Committees at the moment (para. 56);
- recommended a draft Provisional Agenda for the 24 th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission for consideration by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO (paras. 57-58);
- made comments on a proposed "Action Plan" prepared by the Chairperson and asked for the Action Plan to be revised and circulated to Governments and Regional Coordinating Committees (paras. 62-71).