WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/GEN/85 
26 August 2009 
 (09-4020) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
INFORMATION ON ACTIVITIES OF THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION  
 
 
 The following information was provided by the Codex Alimentarius Commission
 at the 
TBT Committee meeting of 25-26 June 2009.  
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I. CODEX SESSIONS SINCE THE LAST MEETING OF THE TBT COMMITTEE  
(18-19 MARCH 2009) 
• The 41
st Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (Shanghai, China,  
16-20 March 2009)  
• The 3rd Session of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (Rotterdam,  Netherlands, 
23-27 March 2009)  
• The 6th Session of the Codex Committee on General Principles (Paris, France,  
30 March-3 April 2009)  
• The 41st Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (Beijing, China,  
20-25 April 2009)  
• The 37th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (Calgary, Canada,  
4-8 May 2009)  
• The 18th Session of the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary (Natal, Brazil,  
11-15 May 2009)  
In particular, the TBT Committee may wish to draw its attention to the following: 
1. The Twenty-sixth Session of the Codex Committee on General Principles agreed to  
forward to the Commission for adoption the Proposed Draft Revised Code of Ethics for International 
Trade in Foods. The Committee endorsed the nutriti onal risk analysis principles provided by the 
CCNFSDU and recommended their adoption by th e Commission and two proposals (criteria 
approach: amendments and a new section and con sequential amendment) from the Committee on 
Methods of Analysis and Sampling. The Committee noted that promoting capacity building in developing countries was a vital work to be undertaken in order to ensure their greater participation in 
Codex work and agreed to report the discussion a bove to the attention of the 32nd Session of the 
Commission for further debate. 
2. The Thirty-seventh Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling  agreed to advance 
to the Commission for final adoption the Draft Amendment to the Guidelines for the Production, 
Processing, Labelling and Marketing of Organically Produced Foods : Table 2 of Annex 2 (conditions 
for use of rotenone). The Committee decided to con tinue to consider: Proposed Draft Amendment to 
the Guidelines for the Production, Processing, l abelling and marketing of Organically Produced 
Foods  (Ethylene for other uses) ; Draft Amendment to the General Standard for the Labelling of 
Prepackaged Foods (Definitions); Proposed Draft Revised Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling  (Section G/TBT/GEN/85 
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  3.2 Listing of Nutrients); Proposed Draft Recomm ended Principles and criteria for Legibility of 
Nutrition Labelling; and Proposed Draft Recomme ndations for the Labelling of Foods obtained 
through certain techniques of GM/GE. 
II. FORTHCOMING CODEX MEETINGS  
• The 62
nd Session of the Executive Committee of th e Codex Alimentarius Commission (Rome, 
Italy, 23-26 June 2009) 
• The 32nd Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commissi on (Rome, Italy, 29 June - 4 July 2009) 
• The 30th Session of the Codex Committee on Fish and Fishery Products (Agadir, Morocco,  
28 September - 2 October 2009) 
• The 3rd Session of the Ad hoc  Codex Intergovernmental Ta sk Force on Antimicrobial 
Resistance (Jeju, Republic of Korea, 12-16 October 2009) 
• The 15th Session of the Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (Mexico City, 
Mexico, 19-23 October 2009) 
• The 31st Session of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses 
(Duesseldorf, Germany, 02-09 November 2009) 
 
3. The Thirty-second Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission will conduct its 
deliberations on the basis of he reports of the Executive Committee and other subsidiary bodies which 
have met since the 31st Session of the Commission (Geneva, July 2008). It will consider a number of 
proposed draft standards and related texts for adoption at Steps 5 or 8. The Commission is expected to 
adopt several Codex standards and related text, incl uding the Micro biological Criteria for Listeria 
monocytogenes in Ready-to-Eat Foods, Generic Mo del Official Certificate and Recommendations on 
the Scientific Basis of Health Claims. It will also  consider the implementation of the Codex Strategic 
Plan 2008-2013, including the evaluation of the capac ity of the Codex Secretariat and the impact of 
co-hosting of Codex sessions in developing countries.  The Commission will also discuss financial and 
budgetary matters; strategic planning;  relations between Codex and ot her international organizations 
such as OIE and ISO; private standards; the deve loping country participation in the Codex process, 
including the operation of the FAO/WHO Project and tr ust Fund for Enhanced Participation in Codex. 
4. The Thirtieth Session of the Codex Committee on Fish and Fishery Products  will consider 
several drafts, proposed draft standards and codes of practice: Draft Standard for Sturgeon Caviar; Draft List of Methods for the Determination of Bi otoxins in the Standard for Raw and Live Bivalve 
Molluscs; Proposed Draft Code of Practice for Fish and Fishery Pr oducts (other sections including 
smoked fish); Proposed Dr aft Standard for Smoked Fish, Smoked -Flavoured Fish and Smoked-Dried 
Fish; Proposed Draft Code of Practice on the Proces sing of Scallop Meat; Proposed Draft Standard for 
Quick Frozen Scallop Adductor Muscle Meat; Pr oposed Draft Revision of the Procedure for the 
Inclusion of Additional Species in Standards for Fish and Fishery Produc ts; Proposed Draft Standard for 
Fresh/Live and Frozen Abalone ( Haliotis  spp.); Proposed Draft Amendment to the Standard for Quick 
Frozen Fish Sticks; and  Food Additives Provision s in Standards for Fish and Fishery Products. 
5. The Fifteenth Session of the Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables  will 
consider the proposed draft Codex standards fo r Apples, Avocado (revision), Chilli Peppers and 
Durian. The Committee will also cons ider the proposed layout for Codex Standards on Fresh Fruits 
and Vegetables and the Proposals for Amendments to th e Priority List for the Standardization of Fresh 
Fruits and Vegetables. 
6. The Thirty-first Session of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special 
Dietary Uses will consider the List of Methods for Diet ary Fibre and the Proposed Draft Additional 
or Revised Nutrient Reference Values for Labe lling Purposes in the Codex Guidelines on Nutrition 
Labelling. The Committee will also consider various  discussion paper: on the Proposal for New Work  G/TBT/GEN/85 
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  to Amend the Codex general Principles for the A ddition of Essential Nutrients to Foods; on the 
Proposal for New Work to Establish a Standard for Processed Cereal-Based Foods for Underweight 
Infant and Young Children; on the Proposal to Revise the Codex Guidelines on Formulated Supplementary Foods for Older Infants and Young Ch ildren; and on the Nutrient Reference Values 
(NRVs) for Nutrients Associated with  Risk of Non communicable Diseases. 
 
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