WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/GEN/53 
12 July 2007 
 (07-2963) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
INFORMATION ON ACTIVITIES OF THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION  
AND RELATED ACTIVITIES OF FAO AND WHO 
 
 
 The following information was provided by the Codex
 at the TBT Committee meeting of 
5 July 2007 under Agenda Item 4 (Updating by Observers). 
 
_______________ 
 
 
I. CODEX SESSIONS SINCE THE LAST MEETING OF THE TBT COMMITTEE (21-
22 MARCH 2007) 
• The 24th Session of the Codex Committee on General Principles (Paris, France, 2-6 April 
2007)  
• The 1st Session of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (Beijing, China, 16-20 
April 2007)  
• The 39th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (Beijing, China, 24-28 April 
2007)  
• The 35th Session of the Codex Committee on Food  Labelling (Ottawa, Canada, 30 April-4 
May 2007)  
• The 39th Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (Beijing, China, 7-12  May 
2007)  
In particular, the following may be of interest to the TBT Committee: 
1. The Twenty-fourth Session of the Codex Committee on General Principles agreed to 
forward the proposed amendments to the Commissi on for adoption: i) to the Principles Concerning 
the Participation of international Non-Governme ntal Organizations in the Work of the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission; ii) to the Rules of Pr ocedure on the responsibilities of Coordinators and 
the respective roles in the Execu tive Committee of the  Regional Coordinators and the Members 
elected on a geographical basis; and iii) to the Guide to the Procedure for the Revision and Amendment of Codex standards and Arrangement s for the Amendments of Codex Standards 
Elaborated by Codex Committees which have been adjourned sine die .  The Committee also agreed to 
circulate the Proposed Draft Code of Ethics for Inte rnational Trade in Food to the member countries 
for comments.   
2. The Thirty-ninth Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives agreed to a set of 
principles to be considered as a starting point for the integration of food additive provisions of Codex 
commodity standards into the General Standard for Food Additives (GSFA) and to continue its 
discussion on how to proceed with this work at its next session.  The Committee also agreed to forward 
the amendments to the Codex Alimentarius Commission:  to relevant sections of the Procedural Manual on Format for Codex Commodity Standards and Relations between Commodity Committee and General G/TBT/GEN/53 
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  Committees and to a list of food additives provisions  to the GSFA to the Commission for adoption.  The 
Committee decided to discontinue work on a list of food additive provisions and to request information on others for further consideration at its next session and to start new work of the revision of the Food Category System of the GSFA. 
3. The Thirty-fifth Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling  finalized the Draft 
Revised List of Permitted Substances in the Guidelines for the Production,  Processing, Labelling and 
Marketing of Organically Produced Foods , and endorsed labelling provisions in several draft 
standards for individual cheeses, for adoption by the 30
th Session of the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission. It considered the Labelling of Foods  and Food Ingredients Obtained through Certain 
Techniques of Genetic Modification / Genetic E ngineering and the Quantitative Declaration of 
Ingredients, which will be discussed further at its  next session and considered the implementation of 
the WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity  and Health in the framework of Codex.  
II. FORTHCOMING CODEX MEETINGS  
• The 30th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Rome, Italy, 2-7 July 2007)  
• The 17th Session of the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods 
(Breckenridge, Colorado, United States of America, 3-7 September 2007)  
• The 7th Session of the Ad Hoc  Intergovernmental Task Fo rce on Food Derived from 
Biotechnology (Chiba, Japan, 24-28 September 2007)  
• The 1st Session of the Ad Hoc  Intergovernmental Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance 
(Seoul, Republic of Korea, 23-26 October 2007)  
• The 39th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (New Delhi, India, 29 
October-3 November 2007)  
In particular, the following may be of interest to the TBT Committee: 
4. The Codex Alimentarius Commission  will hold its Thirtieth Session at the Food and 
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy, from 2–7 July 2007, preceded by the 
Fifty-ninth Session of the Executive Committee. Th e Commission will consider, among others, draft 
Codex standards and related texts for final adoption at Step 8 or at Step 5/8 (see Annex) as well as 
proposals to amend the Rules of Procedure and other texts in the Procedural Manual. The 
Commission will also adopt the Strategic Plan for 2008-2013. 
5. The Seventh Session of the Ad Hoc  Intergovernmental Task Force on Food Derived from 
Biotechnology  will consider the section of the Use of Antibiotic Resistance Marker Genes and any 
other amendments necessary to accommodate non her itable applications. The Task Force will also 
review the Proposed Draft Annex to the Guideline for the Conduct of Food Safety Assessment of 
Foods Derived from Recombinant-DNA Plant, the Food Safety Assessment of Food Derived from 
Recombinant-DNA Plants Modified for Nutritional or Health, and the Proposed Draft Annex to the 
Guideline for the Conduct of Food Safety Assess ment of Foods Derived from Recombinant-DNA 
Plants on Low-level Presence of Recombinant-DNA Plant Material. 
6. The First Session of the Ad Hoc  Intergovernmental Task Force on  Antimicrobial 
Resistance  will discuss new work items, ai med at protecting human health from the presence in food 
and feed of antimicrobial resistant microorganisms,  to be undertaken by the succeeding sessions of the 
Task Force and set priorities among them. 
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ANNEX  
STANDARDS AND RELATED TEXTS SUBMITTED FOR FINAL ADOPTION 
 
Codex Body Subject 
CCCF Draft Maximum Levels for Tin in Canne d Foods (other than beverages) and in 
Canned Beverages 
CCCF Proposed Draft Code of Practice for the Prevention and Reduction of Ochratoxin 
A Contamination in Wine  
CCFA Draft and proposed draft food additive provisions of the General Standard for 
Food Additives (GSFA) 
CCFA Proposed draft amendments to the In ternational Numbering System for Food 
Additives 
CCFA Specifications for the Identity and Pur ity of Food Additives arising from the 65th 
JECFA meeting 
CCFFP Proposed draft Code of Practice for Fish and Fishery Products (Quick Frozen 
Coated Products, Salted Fish and relevant Definitions) 
CCFFV Draft Codex Standard for Table Grapes 
CCFFV Proposed draft Sections 2.1.2 – Matu rity Requirements and 3.1 – Minimum 
Bunch Weight 
CCFH Draft Code of Hygienic Practice for Eggs and Egg Products 
CCFH Draft Guidelines on the Application of General Principles of Food Hygiene to 
the Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Foods 
CCFH Draft Principles and Guidelines for the Conduct of Microbiological Risk 
Management 
CCFICS Proposed draft revision of the Guidelines for Generic Official Certificate 
Formats and the Design, Production, Issuance and Use of Certificates 
CCFL Draft Amendment to the Guidelines for the Production, Processing, Labelling 
and Marketing of Organically Produced Foods: Annex 2 – Permitted Substances: 
Table 3 
CCFO Draft Standard for Fat Spreads and Blended Spreads 
CCGP Proposed draft Working Principles fo r Risk Analysis for Food Safety for 
Application by Governments 
CCNEA Draft Regional Standard for Canned Humus with Tehena 
CCNEA Draft Regional Standard for Canned Foul Medames 
CCNEA Draft Regional Standard for Tehena 
CCNFSDU Draft revised Standard for Infant Formula and Formulas for Special Medical 
Purposes Intended for Infants, Sections A and B 
CCPFV Draft Codex Standard for Pickled Fruits and Vegetables 
CCPFV Draft Codex Standard for Processed Tomato Concentrates G/TBT/GEN/53 
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  Codex Body Subject 
CCPFV Draft Codex Standard for Preserved Tomatoes 
CCPFV Draft Codex Standard for Certain Canned Citrus Fruits 
CCPR Draft Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticides 
CCPR Proposed draft Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticides 
CCMAS Methods of Analysis in Codex Standards at different steps 
CCMMP Draft Revised Standard for Cheddar (C-1) 
CCMMP Draft Revised Standard for Danbo (C-3)  
CCMMP Proposed draft Revised Standard for Edam(C-4)  
CCMMP Proposed draft Revised Standard for Gouda (C-5) 
CCMMP Proposed draft Revised Standard for Havarti (C-6) 
CCMMP Proposed draft Revised Standard for Samso (C-7) 
CCMMP Proposed draft Revised Standard for Emmental (C-9)  
CCMMP Proposed draft Revised Standard for Tilsiter (C-11)  
CCMMP Proposed draft Revised Standard for Saint-Paulin (C-13)  
CCMMP Proposed draft Revised Standard for Provolone (C-15)  
CCMMP Proposed draft Revised Standard for Cottage Cheese (C-16) 
CCMMP Proposed draft Revised Standard for Coulommiers (C-18)  
CCMMP Proposed draft Revised Standard for Cream Cheese (C-31)  
CCMMP Proposed draft Revised Standard for Camembert (C-33)  
CCMMP Proposed draft Revised Standard for Brie (C-34)  
CCMMP Proposed draft Standard for Mozzarella 
 
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