Food Law News - FAO/WHO/WTO/Codex - 2005

9–13 May 2005

CODEX - Committee on Food Labelling (33rd Session) Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

The summary and conclusions of the 33rd Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling are as follows:

Matters for adoption by the 28th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission:

The Committee:

• agreed to advance to Step 5 the Proposed Draft Amendment to the General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods: Quantitative Declaration of Ingredients (para. 80, Appendix II);
• agreed to discontinue work on the Draft Amendment to the Guidelines for the Production, Processing, Labelling and Marketing of Organically Produced Foods: Annex 2 - Permitted Substances : Table 4 (para. 33);
• agreed to undertake new work on the Definition of Trans Fatty Acids (Proposed Draft Amendment to the General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods and the
• Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling) (para. 96);

Other Matters of Interest to the Commission

The Committee:

• agreed not to undertake new work on country of origin labelling (para. 85);
• endorsed the labelling provisions in several Draft Standards and returned the other labelling provisions for further consideration by the Codex Committees concerned (paras. 14-28);
• agreed to return to Step 6 for redrafting the Draft Amendment to the Guidelines for the Production, Processing, Labelling and Marketing of Organically Produced Foods: Annex 2 - Permitted Substances :Table 3, and to return to Step 3 the Proposed Draft Amendment to Table 1 on Natural Sodium Nitrate (paras. 32 and 37, Appendix IV);
• agreed to retain at Step 7 the Draft Amendment to the General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods (Draft Recommendations for the Labelling of Foods Obtained through Certain Techniques of Genetic Modification/Genetic Engineering): Definitions and to return for redrafting and comments at Step 3 the Proposed Draft Guidelines for the Labelling of Food and Food Ingredients Obtained through Certain Techniques of Genetic Modification/Genetic Engineering: Labelling Provisions (paras. 61 and 64, Appendix III);
• agreed to consider further the issue of advertising at its next session (para.90).