WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/508 
22 July 2004 
 
 (04-3172) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
REPORT ON ACTIVITIES 
 
Statement by the World Health Organization (WHO
) 
at the meeting of 22-23 June 2004  
  
Global Forum II and The International Food  Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) 
 
1. Because of the rapid globalization of food pr oduction and trade, and the potential likelihood
of international incidents involving contaminated food,  it is important to exchange routine information 
on food safety issues among food safety authorities at the international level and to have rapid access
to information in case of food safety emergencies. 
2. At its Okinawa Summit in 2000, the G8 encouraged FAO and WHO "to organize periodic 
international meetings of food safety regul ators to advance the process of science-
based public 
consultations".  The First FAO/WHO Global Foru m of Food Safety Regulators took place in
Marrakech (Morocco) in early 2002.  Due to ge nerous funding from G8 and other countries, the 
Second Global Forum is to take place on 12-14 October 2004 in Bangkok (T hailand) on the theme 
Building Effective Food Safety Systems .  Two sub-themes will be:  (1)  strengthening official food 
control services; and (2) epidemic surveillance of food borne diseases and food safety rapid aler t 
systems.  More information can be found at http://www.foodsafetyforum.org/global2/index_en.asp . 
3. On the occasion of the forthcoming Global Forum in Bangkok, a new International Foo d 
Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) will be launched.  This network is currently being set up by 
WHO, with support from the Government of Spai n.  WHO member states have recently called fo r 
WHO to be more proactive in communicating about food safety, and this new network will serve no t
only to improve the flow of information between f ood safety authorities worldwide, but also to enable
WHO to instantly and easily disseminate vital information whenever necessary. 
4. WHO has also been asked to provide tools a nd support to member states to increase their 
capacity to respond to health emergencies posed by natural, accidental and intentional contamination
of food. Hence a food safety emergency network (I NFOSAN EMERGENCY) will be an integral part 
of INFOSAN.  The food safety emergency networ k is intended to complement and support the
existing WHO Global Outbreak Alert and Respon se Network (GOARN).  More information can be 
found at http://www.who.int/foodsafety/fs_management/infosan/en/ 
Call for Data  
 5. I would like to inform the Committee of the tw o call for data for the joint FAO/WHO expert 
meetings. 
6. Codex standards are based on risk assessment s made by WHO in collaboration with FAO.
Use of data generated by both de veloped and developing countries is key in ensuring that scientific
assessments reflect a truly global picture.  Therefore the submission of data from member countries 
and other relevant stakeholders  worldwide is a key issue. G/SPS/GEN/508 
Page 2  
 
 7. The first call for data is for the Joint FAO/IOC/WHO ad hoc Expert Consultation on
Biotoxins in Molluscan Bivalves
. 
8. In order to respond to the request from the Codex Committee on Fish and Fishery Products
(CCFFP) and to provide scientific advice to th e CCFFP to enable the establishment of maximum 
levels in shellfish for shellfish toxins, and to pr ovide guidance on methods of analysis for each toxin
group and to provide guidance on monitoring of  biotoxin-forming phytoplankton and bivalve 
molluscs, in conjunction with its work on Proposed Draft Standards for Live and Processed Bivalve Molluscs, the Food and Agriculture Organization of  the United Nations (FAO), the Intergovernmental
Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are
planning to hold a joint expert consultation from 27 September to 1 October 2004, in Oslo, Norway. 
9. Governments, interested organizations, compan ies and individuals are invited to submit any
information related to the toxicology;  epidem iology;  exposure assessment; analytical methodology;
formation, fate and occurrence in molluscan bivalves;   and control measures related to the following 
toxin groups:  
• Saxitoxin group (including analogues, e.g. neosaxitoxin); 
• Domoic acid group; 
• Okadaic acid group (including diol- and 7-O-acyl-esters etc.); 
• Pectenotoxin group; 
• Yessotoxin group; 
• Brevetoxin group; 
• Azaspiracid group; 
• Cyclic Imine group (incl. spirolides, pteriatoxins, pinnatoxins etc.). 
 
10. Even though the deadline has p assed, we are still in the process  of collecting data for this 
work and in particular we need data on preval ence and concentration of each toxin in molluscan 
bivalves and outbreak investigation reports includi ng what molluscan bivalves were involved, which 
toxins were detected from the implicated food and the concentration of the toxin in food, etc.  Therefore we look forward to receiving whatever data you can provide. 
11. The other call for data is for the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives
.  The 
sixty-fourth meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expe rt Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) to be 
held 9-17 February 2005 in Rome, Italy, will ev aluate or re-evaluate the folloing substances: 
• Acrylamide; 
• Arsenic; 
• Ethyl carbamate; 
• Polybrominated diphenyl ethers; 
• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocar bons,including benz[a]pyrene; 
• Tin (inorganic form). 
 
12. All information related to the toxicology, ep idemiology, exposure as sessment, analytical 
methodology, formation, fate and occurrence in f ood of those compounds is invited to be submitted 
before 31 July 2004 .  More information canl be found in  http://www.who.int/pcs/jecfa/call64.pdf. 
Enterobacter sakazakii  and other microorganisms of concern in powdered infant formula 
 
Background information  
 
13. A food safety issue of E. sakazakii  in powdered infant formula was considered at the 35th 
Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH).  The CCFH requested FAO and WHO to  G/SPS/GEN/508 
 Page 3 
 
 
 convene an expert meeting on pathogens of concern, including E. sakazakii  and Clostridium 
botulinum,  in powdered infant formula at the earliest opportunity. 
14. To respond to this request, FAO/WHO convened an  expert meeting on this issue in February 
2004 and presented the report to 36th Session of the CCFH. The report of the meeting is available 
from http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/micro/feb2004/en/. The CCFH at its 36th session 
agreed to proceed with the revision of the Intern ational Code of Hygienic Practice for Foods for 
Infants and Children and deve lop microbiological criteria on E. sakazakii and other relevant 
microorganisms, and to proceed with this work as qui ckly as possible.  To facilitate the revision of the 
code, this two areas of work are proposed. 
(a) Further development of the risk assessment model 
Current status  
 15. A flexible model with decision-support properti es has been developed.  After some testing 
and review, the model can be used to consider various scenarios as defined by the risk management 
group. 
16. The output of this work would be risk estimates associated with a number of different 
scenarios.  These will be considered by the Codex drafting group which will meet in November to 
work on revision of the Code of Hygienic Practice for Foods for Infants and Children. 
(b) Development of microbiological criteria 
17. The outcome is a selection of microbiological criteria for certain micro-organisms together 
with the appropriate sampling plan and if possibl e an estimate of their efficacy using the risk 
assessment model. 
Timeline
 
 18. The objective is to have this information r eady in advance of the meeting of the Codex 
Drafting Group to be held in Canada in November  2004, and the work of the Codex Drafting Group 
further discussed at the 37
th CCFH in early 2005. 
19. The issue of E.sakazakii in powdered infant formula was briefly discussed at the World 
Health Assembly in 2004, and will be further discussed at the WHO Executive Board meeting in 
January 2005. 
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