WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/GEN/51 
23 April 2007 
 (07-1664) 
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 
21 March 2007 under Agenda Item  5 (Updating by Observers). 
 
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I. CODEX SESSIONS SINCE THE LAST MEETING OF THE TBT COMMITTEE  
(9-10 NOVEMBER 2006) 
• The 28th Session of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses 
(Chiang Mai, Thailand, 30  October-3 November 2006)  
• The 15th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and 
Certification Systems (Mar del Plata, Argentina, 6-10 November 2006)  
• The 15th Session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Latin America and the 
Caribbean (Mar del Plata, Argentina, 13-17 November 2006)  
• The 15th Session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Asia (Seoul, Republic of 
Korea, 21-24 November 2006)  
• The 6th Session of the Codex Ad Hoc  Intergovernmental Task Force on Food Derived from 
Biotechnology (Chiba, Japan, 27 November-1 December 2006) 
• The 38th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (Houston, United States of 
America, 4-9 December 2006) 
• The 25th Session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Europe (Vilnius, 
Lithuania, 15-18 January 2007)  
• The 17th Session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Africa (Rabat,  Morocco, 
23-26 January 2007)  
• The 20th Session of the Codex Committee on Fats  and Oils (London, United Kingdom,  
19-23 February 2007)  
• The 4th Session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Near East (Amman, Jordan, 
26 February-1 March 2007) 
• The 28th Session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling 
(Budapest, Hungary, 5-9 March 2007) G/TBT/GEN/51 
Page 2  
 
  In particular, the TBT Committee may wish to draw its attention to the following: 
1. The Twenty-eighth Session of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special 
Dietary Uses agreed to forward the Draft Revised Standard for Infant Formula and Formulas for 
Special Medical Purposes Intended for Infants  for final adoption and the Draft Revised Advisory List 
of Nutrient Compounds for Use in Foods for Special  Dietary Uses Intended for the Use by Infants and 
Young Children  for provisional adoption by the 30
th Session of the Commission (Rome, 2-7 July 
2007). The Committee concluded that there was no support to initiate work for claims for trans fatty 
acids and include restrictions on both saturated and trans fatty acids in the conditions for comparative 
claims. The Committee decided to consider reviewing and re-establishing the Guidelines for the Use 
of Codex Committees on the Inclusion of Provisi ons on Nutritional Quality  in Food Standards and 
Other Codex Texts  based on document which would provide mo re explanation on the development of 
such guidelines. The Committee also decided to st art new work on the establishment and application 
of risk analysis principles. 
2. The Fifteenth Session of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection 
and Certification Systems ( CCFICS)  agreed to advance the renamed Proposed Draft Guidelines for 
Generic Official Certificate Formats and the Desi gn, Production, Issuance and Use of Certificates  for 
final adoption by the 30th Session of the Commission. The Committee, in view of the several 
attestations that may be included in a food certi ficate e.g. animal health and/or plant health 
attestations, and of the possible inconsistenc ies among these attestations, recommended that the 
Codex Alimentarius Commission coordina te its work on certificates with the World Organisation 
for Animal Health  and the International Plant Protection Convention  and other organisations as 
appropriate.  
3. The Sixth Session of the Codex ad hoc  Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived 
from Biotechnology forwarded the project document, Annex to the Guideline for the Conduct of 
Food Safety Assessment of Foods Derived from Re combinant-DNA Plants on Low-level Presence of 
Recombinant-DNA Plant Material,  to the 30th Session of the Commission for approval of new work to 
develop.  
4. The Twentieth Session of the Codex Committee on Fats and Oils  finalised the Draft 
Standard for Fat Spreads and Blended Fat Spreads  for adoption by the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission, continued its work on the amendments to the Standard for Named Vegetable Oils:  
Inclusion of Rice Bran Oil.  The Committee agreed to continue its work on the List of Acceptable 
Previous Cargoes and the level of linolenic acid in the  Standard for Olive Oils and Olive Pomace 
Oils. It also agreed to undertake new work on provisions for palm kernel olein and stearin. 
5. The Twenty-eighth Session of the Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling  
proceeded with its work on the Draft Criteria for Evaluating Acceptable Methods of Analysis , the 
Draft Guidelines for Settling Disputes over Analytical (Test) Results , the Criteria for the Methods for 
the Detection and Identification of Foods Derived from Biotechnology , the revision and harmonisation 
of analytical terminology, and endorsed or revised several methods of analysis for inclusion in Codex 
standards. It agreed to develop further gui dance on measurement uncertainty and sampling 
uncertainty. 
II. FORTHCOMING CODEX MEETINGS  
• 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)   G/TBT/GEN/51 
 Page 3 
 
 
  • 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 TBT Committee may wish to draw its attention to the following: 
6. The Twenty-fourth Session of the Codex Committee on General Principles  will consider 
the proposed draft Working Principles for Risk Analysis for Food Safety , proposed new definitions of 
risk analysis terms related to food safety and amendments to the Rules of Procedure and the 
Procedure for the Elaboration of Codex Standards and Related Texts .  The Committee will also 
review the General Principles of the Codex Alimentarius , questions related to the Code of Ethics for 
International Trade in Foods  and the structure and presentation of the Procedural Manual. 
7. The Thirty-fifth Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling will consider the 
Labelling of Foods and Food Ingredients Obtained through Certain Techniques of Genetic 
Modification/Genetic Engineering  and discuss how to proceed further in this area. The Committee 
will also consider the definition of advertising in  relation to nutrition and health claims and the 
Implementation of the Global Strate gy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. It will proceed with its 
revision of the lists of permitted substances in the Guidelines for the Production, Processing, 
Labelling and Marketing of Organically Produced Foods . 
 
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