WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/GEN/69 
23 April 2008 
 (08-1938) 
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 20 March 2008.  
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  I. CODEX SESSIONS SINCE THE LAST MEETING OF THE TBT COMMITTEE 
(NOVEMBER 2007) 
• The 29
th Session of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary 
Uses (Bad Neuenahr, Germany, 12-16 November 2007)  
• The 16th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and 
Certification Systems (Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia, 26-30 November 2007)  
• The 60th Session of the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission 
(Rome, Italy, 4-7 December 2007)  
• The 8th Session of the Codex Committee on Milk and Milk Products  
(Queenstown, New Zealand, 4-8 February 2008)  
• The 8th Session of the Codex Committee on Natural Mineral Waters  
(Lugano, Switzerland, 11-15 February 2008)  
• The 29th Session of the Codex Committee  on Fish and Fishery Products  
(Trondheim, Norway, 18-23 February 2008)  
• The 1st Session of the Ad Hoc  Intergovernmental Task Force on the Processing and 
Handling of Quick Frozen Foods (Thailand, 25-29 February 2008)  
 The Twenty-ninth Session of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special 
Dietary  Uses  agreed to advance to the Commission for fi nal adoption: i) the Draft Revised Standard 
for Foods for Special Dietary Use for Persons Intolera nt to Gluten; and ii) the Draft Advisory Lists of 
Nutrient Compounds for Use in Foods for Special  Dietary Uses Intended for Infants and Young 
Children. The Committee also agreed to continue  work on:  the Guidelines for Use of Nutrition 
Claims; the Draft Advisory List of Nutrient Comp ounds for Use in Foods for Special Dietary Uses 
Intended for Infants and Young Children; the Esta blishment and Application of Risk Analysis 
Principles by the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses; and the 
Proposed Draft Recommendations on the Scientific Basis of Health Claims.  G/TBT/GEN/69 
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  1. The Sixteenth Session of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection 
and Certification Systems agreed to forward two project documents for new work on the 
development of: i) Guidelines for the Conduct of Foreign Audit Team Inspections; and ii) Generic 
Model Health Certificate as an Annex to the Guidelines for Design, Production, Issuance and Use of 
Generic Official Certificates  to the 31
st Session of the Commission for approval. It further agreed to 
revise the discussion papers on the Need for Guid ance for National Food Inspection Systems and 
Guidance on Traceability/ Product Tracing for consid eration at its next session and to defer 
consideration on the revision of CAC/GL 20- 1995 and CAC/GL 26-1997 until further notice. 
2. The Eighth Session of the Codex Committee on Milk and Milk Products finalized and 
forwarded to the 31st Commission for final adoption: i) the draft Model Export Certificate for Milk 
and Milk Products and ii) the proposed draft Am endment to the List of Additives of the Codex 
Standard for Creams  and Prepared Creams (C ODEX STAN A-9-1976). The Committee also agreed 
to forward to the Commission for adoption: i) th e Maximum Levels for Annatto Extracts in Codex 
Standards for Milk and Milk Products, including co nsequential changes to the provision for beta-
carotene (vegetable), ii) the Food Additive listings of the Standard for Fermented Milks , and iii)  the 
Updated List of Methods of Analysis and Sampli ng in Codex Standards for Milk and Milk Products. 
3. The Eighth Session of the Codex Committee on Natural Mineral Waters agreed to forward 
the proposed draft amendment to Sections 3.2 cont aining levels of the Health-Related Limits for 
Certain Substances and Section 6.3.2 “A dditional Labelling Requirements” of the Codex Standard for 
Natural Mineral Waters  for final adoption by the 31st Session of the Commission. It was also agreed 
to refer Section 3.2 to the Committee on Contaminants in Foods for endorsement. 
4. The Twenty-ninth Session of the Codex Committee on Fish and Fishery Products agreed to 
advance to the Commission for final adoption: the Draft Code of Practice for Fish and Fishery 
Product (Live and Raw Bivalve Molluscs, Lobsters and relevant related definitions; and the Draft 
Standard for Raw and Live Bivalve Molluscs. The Committee also agreed to discuss further in the 
next session: i) the Draft Code of Practice for Fish  and Fishery Products (other sections including 
crabs and smoked fish); ii) the Amended Draft Sta ndard for Sturgeon Caviar; iii) the Proposed Draft 
Standard for Quick Frozen Muscle Adductor Mea t; iv) the Proposed Draft Code of Practice on 
Processing of Scallop Meat; v) the Proposed Draft Standard for Smoked Fish, Smoked-Flavoured Fish 
and Smoked-Dried Fish; vi) the Proposed Draft Revision of the Procedure for the Inclusion of Additional Species in Standard for fish and Fishery Products; vii) the Proposed Draft Standard for 
Fish Sauce; and viii) the Proposed Draft St andard for Fresh/Live and Frozen Abalone.  
5. The first session of the Ad Hoc Codex Intergovernmental  Task Force on the Processing 
and Handling of Quick Frozen Foods  agreed to advance to the Commission, for final adoption, the 
Proposed Draft Recommended International Code of Practice for the Processing and Handling of 
Quick Frozen Foods. The revised Code is a Code  of Hygienic Practice addressing hygienic/safety 
issues and a Code of Practice that cover essential quality aspects regarding processing and handling of 
quick frozen foods.  
II. FORTHCOMING CODEX MEETINGS  
• The 29
th Session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling 
(Budapest, Hungary, 10-14 March 2008)  
• The 2nd Session of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods  
(The Hague, The Netherlands, 31 March-4 April 2008)  
• The 40th Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues  
(Hangzhou, China, 14-19 April 2008)   G/TBT/GEN/69 
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  • The 40th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives  
(Beijing, China, 21-25 April 2008)  
• The 36th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling  
(Ottawa, Canada, 28 April-2 May 2008)  
• The 14th Session of the Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables  
(Mexico City, Mexico, 12-17 May 2008)  
• The 61st Session Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission  
(Geneva, Switzerland, 25-28 June 2008)  
• The 31st Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission  
(Geneva, Switzerland, 30 June-4 July 2008)  
6. The Twenty-ninth Session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling  
will consider the Draft Guidelines for Settling Dis putes over Analytical (Test) Results, Criteria for 
Evaluating Acceptable Methods of Analysis, the endo rsement of methods of analysis and sampling in 
Codex standards, the Criteria for the Methods for the Detection and Identification of Foods Derived 
from Biotechnology, the revision and harmonisation of analytical terminology, and guidance on 
uncertainty in measurement and in sampling. 
7. The Thirty-sixth Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling will proceed with its 
work on update of the substances allowed in the Guidelines for the Production, Processing, Labelling 
and Marketing of Organically Produced Foods. The Committee will also discuss the Labelling of 
Foods and Food Ingredients Obtained through Cert ain Techniques of Genetic  Modification / Genetic 
Engineering, the Draft Amendment to the General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods 
on: Quantitative Declaration of Ingredients, and th e Draft Definition of Advertising in relation to 
nutrition and health claims. The Committee will c onsider further the implementation of the WHO 
Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health in the framework of Codex. 
8. The Fourteenth Session of the Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables  will 
finalize provisions on sizing in the draft Standard for Tomatoes. The Committee will also finalize the 
draft Guidelines for the Inspection and Certification of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables for Conformity to 
Quality Standards and the draft Standard for Bitter Cassava, in particular those provisions deviating 
from the existing Standard for Sweet Cassava i.e. si zing and hydrogen cyanide content. In addition, 
the Committee will continue it work on quality provi sions for apples and will discuss essential quality 
provisions applying across fresh fruits and vegetables for inclusion in the proposed Layout for Codex 
Standards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables. The Committee will further consider proposals for new 
work on a certain commodities e.g. fresh chilli peppers and durian.  
9. The Codex Alimentarius Commission will hold its  Thirty-first Session at the International 
Conference Centre, Geneva, Switzerland, 30 June – 4 July 2008, preceded by the Sixty-first Session 
of the Executive Committee. The Commission will consider, among others, a number of draft Codex 
standards and related texts for final adoption at Step  8 or at Step 5/8 as well as proposals to amend the 
Rules of Procedure and other texts in the Procedur al Manual. The Commission will also consider the 
implementation of the Joint FAO/WHO Evaluation of the Codex Alimentarius and other FAO and 
WHO Work on Food Standards and relations betwee n the Codex Alimentarius Commission and other 
International Organizations. 
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