WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SPS/GEN/1206 
18 October 2012 
 (12-5662) 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
INFORMATION ON ACTIVITIES 
 
Communication from the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) 
  
 The following communication, received on 17 Octo ber 2012, is being circulated at the request 
of the Codex secretariat. 
 
_______________ 
  
A. C
ODEX SESSIONS SINCE THE LAST MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE (JULY  2012) 
 Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (Mexico City, Mexico, 
3-7 September 2012) 
 FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for North America and the South West Pacific 
(Madang, Papua New Guinea, 19-22 September 2012) 
 FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Europe (Batumi, Georgia, 25-28 September 2012) 
 Codex Committee on Fish and Fishery Products  (Bali, Indonesia, 1-5 October 2012) 
 Codex Committee on Processed Fruits and Ve getables (Montego Bay, Jamaica, 15-19 
October 2012) 
1. The Committee on Fish and Fishery Products  forwarded to the Commission for adoption 
the Draft Standard for Smoked Fish, Smoke-Flavour ed Fish and Smoke-Dried Fish;  the draft 
Standard for Fresh/Live and Frozen Abalone ( Haliotis spp); the amendment to the Standard for Quick 
Frozen Fish Sticks (Nitrogen Factor for South At lantic Hake);  the Proposed Draft Performance 
Criteria for Reference and the Proposed Draft Revision of the Procedure for the Inclusion of 
Additional Species in Standards for Fish and Fisher y Products;  and the Confirmatory Methods for 
Marine Biotoxins in the Standard for Live and Raw Bivalve Molluscs for adoption as a draft standard.  
The Committee agreed to proceed with its work on the Proposed Draft Standard for Quick Frozen 
Scallop Adductor Muscle Meat, the Proposed Draft Code of Practice for the Processing of Scallops and the Proposed Draft Code of Practice for Fish and Fishery Products (section on sturgeon caviar);  
and to consider further food additive provisions in the standards for Fish and Fishery Products and 
issues related to histamine at the next session.  The Committee initiated new work on a Code of 
Practice for Fish Sauce, subject to approval by the 36
th Commission. 
2. The FAO/WHO Coordinating Committees  consider Codex matters of  interest to the region, 
promote exchange of information within the region on food legislation and food control issues, Codex 
structures and participation, the use of Codex sta ndards, identifying issues related to the use or non-
use of Codex standards and related texts at the nati onal and regional levels.  They define the problems 
and needs of the region concerning food standards and food control, and so me of them develop 
regional standards for products that  may not be traded internationally but for which there is significant G/SPS/GEN/1206 
Page 2  
 
  regional trade.  The Commission also forwarded the Draft Codex Strategic Plan 2014-2019 to 
Coordinating Committees for their advice , as well as some other questions.  
3. FAO and WHO generally convene regional workshops on issues of interest to the region in 
conjunction with the Coordinating Committees, a nd with funding from the Codex Trust Fund (see 
below "Technical Co-operation").  
B. F
ORTHCOMING CODEX  MEETINGS  
 FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Asia (Tokyo, Japan, 5-9 November 2012) 
 Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (New Orleans, United States of America, 12-
16 November 2012)  
 FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Latin Amer ica and the Caribbean (San Jose, Costa 
Rica, 19-23 November 2012) 
 Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Sp ecial Dietary Uses (Bad Soden am Taunus, 
Germany, 2012)  
 FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for the Near East (Beirut, Lebanon, 21-
25 January 2013) 
 FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa (Yaoundé, Cameroon, 29 January-
1 February 2013) 
 Ad hoc  Intergovernmental Task Force on Animal Feeding (Bern, Switzerland, 4-
8 February 2013)  
 Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems 
(Chiang Mai, Thailand, 18-22 February 2013)  
 Codex Committee on Fats and Oils (Langkawi , Malaysia, 25 February, 1 March 2013)  
4. The Codex Committee on Food Import and Expo rt Inspection and Certification Systems  
will continue its work on the elaboration of the Principles and Guidelines for National Food Control 
Systems.  The Committee will also consider discu ssion papers addressing:  the burden of multiple 
questionnaires directed at exporting countries; monitoring regulatory performance of national food control systems and the need for furt her guidance on food safety emergencies. 
5. The Codex Committee on Food Hygiene will consider in particular the Proposed Draft 
Revision of the Principles for the Establishment and Application of Microbiological Criteria, the 
Proposed Draft Guidelines for Control of Specific Zoonotic Parasites in Meat:  Trichinella spiralis 
and Cysticercus bovis ;  the Proposed Draft Revision of the Code of Hygienic Practice for Spices and 
Dried Aromatic Plants ;  and the Proposed Draft Annex on Berries to the Code of Hygienic Practice 
for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables . 
6. The ad hoc  Intergovernmental Task Force on Animal Feeding  will consider the Draft 
Guidelines on Application of Risk Assessment fo r Feed, Proposed Draf t Guidance for use by 
governments in prioritizing the national feed hazar ds, how to apply existing Codex risk assessment 
methodologies to the various types of hazards relate d to contaminants/residues in feed ingredients, 
including feed additives used in feedingstuffs.  G/SPS/GEN/1206 
 Page 3 
 
 
  C. SCIENTIFIC ADVICE  
1. Joint FAO/WHO Meetings on Pesticide Residues 
7. The summary report of the 2012 JMPR held in September 2012 is available at the FAO and 
WHO websites as follows:  
FAO:  " http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/agphome/documents/Pests_Pesticides/ 
JMPR/2012_JMPR_Summary_Report__F2_.pdf " 
 
 WHO:  http://www.who.int/foodsafety/chem/jmpr/summary_2012.pdf  
 
2. Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Public Health Risks of Histamine and Other 
Biogenic Amines from Fish and Fishery Products (FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy,  
23-27 July 2012) 
8. The objectives of the meeting were:  
(a) To review the public health and trade impacts of existing histamine limits (Table 1) in 
various fish and fishery products; 
(b) To review the epidemiological and toxicological data and examine whether any risk-
based control limits can be recommended for different fishery products; 
(c) To examine the impact of a range of risk-based sampling plans for monitoring 
histamine levels in various fish and fishery products. 
The meeting aimed at providing the Committee on Fish  and Fishery Products with an overview of the 
public health risks associated with histamines and related amines, a commentary on existing limits in 
terms of their appropriateness and implications for application and control as well as the potential 
impact of these limits with a range of sampling pl ans and suggested approach es for risk -based control 
of histamine and related amines in fish and fishery products. 
3. Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meeting: Foodborn e Parasites – Prioritization for Risk 
Management (FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy, 3-7 September 2012)  
9. This meeting was implemented following the request of the 42nd Session of the Codex 
Committee on Food Hygiene, with the following main objectives:  
(a) To provide an overview of the global problems associated with foodborne parasites 
for the purpose of risk ranking;  
(b) To apply a systematic risk ranking/prio ritization approach to the available 
information to identify parasite/commodity groups of greatest concern;  and  
(c) To provide an overview of the risk manage ment options and approaches available for 
the control of prioritized foodborne parasites. 
D. TECHNICAL COOPERATION  
10. The following activities were carried out with  the support of the Codex Trust Fund.  
11. Prior to the  FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for North America and the South West 
Pacific (Madang, Papua New Guinea, 19-22 Sept ember 2012) FAO and WHO convened a Technical 
Workshop on Developments Relevant to P acific Island Countries (17-18 September 2012). G/SPS/GEN/1206 
Page 4  
 
  12. Prior to the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Europe (Batumi, Georgia,  
25-28 September 2012), FAO and WHO, with the s upport of Poland as host country, convened an 
FAO/WHO Regional training Workshop on Codex Alimen tarius:  50 years of Codex: achievements, 
lessons learnt and challenges in the Eu ropean Codex region (24 September 2012). 
13. FAO and WHO convened a capacity development regional training workshop on Codex in 
Bishkek , Kyrgyz Republic, on 9-11 October 2012 , for countries in Central Asia. 
14. Similar workshops will be held in conjunc tion with the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committees 
to be held from November 2012 to February 2013. 
 
__________