WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/638 
6 March 2006 
 
 (06-0947) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
SUBMISSION TO SPS COMMITTEE (GENEVA, 29-31 MARCH 2006) 
INFORMATION ON ACTIVITIES OF THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION 
 
Submission by the Codex Alimentarius Commission 
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 2 March 2006, is being circulated at the request of the 
Codex Alimentarius Commission.  
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I. CODEX SESSIONS SINCE THE THIRTY-FOURTH MEETING OF THE SPS 
COMMITTEE (OCTOBER 2005) 
• The 27th Session of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses 
(Bonn, Germany, 21-25 November 2005). 
• The 14th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and 
Certification Systems (Melbourne, Aust ralia 28 November - 2 December 2005). 
• The 57th Session of the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission 
(Geneva, Switzerland, 6-9 December 2005). 
 
In particular, the SPS Committee wishes to  draw attention to the following: 
1. The 27th Session of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary 
Uses  finalized the Draft Revised Standard for Proc essed Cereal Based Foods for Infants and Young 
Children and made substantial progress on the Propo sed Draft Standard for Formulas for Special 
Medical Purposes Intended for Infants.  
2. The 14
th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and 
Certification Systems  recommended the 29th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission to 
adopt: i) the Principles and Guidelines for Imported Food Inspection Based on Risk; and ii) the Principles for the Application of Traceability/Product Tracing in the Context of Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems. In add ition, the Committee agreed to redraft all the five 
planned appendices as a single Appendix to the Gu idelines on the Judgement of Equivalence of 
Sanitary Measures Associated with  Food Inspection and Certification for consideration at its next 
Session. In this regard, the Comm ittee agreed that during the elaboration of the single Appendix, 
consideration will be given to either including elem ents of technical assistance in the single Appendix 
or developing a separate one. The Committee also agreed to continue work on the revision of 
Principles and Guidelines for Generic Official Cert ificate Formats and the Production and Issurance 
of Certificates for consideration at its next Session. 
3. The 57
th Session of the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission  
considered financial and budgetary ma tters, the implementation of the  Joint FAO/WHO Evaluation of G/SPS/GEN/638 
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  the Codex Alimentarius and other FAO and WHO Work on Food Standards , monitored progress of 
standards development and agreed on a revised  draft of the Strategic Plan 2008-2013.  
II. FORTHCOMING CODEX SESSIONS 
• The 7th Session of the Codex Committee on Milk and Milk Products (Queenstown, New 
Zealand, 27 March - 1 April 2006). 
• The 38th Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (Fortaleza, Brazil 3 - 8 April 
2006). 
• The 23rd Session of the Codex Committee on General Principles (Paris, France, 10 - 14 April 
2006) 
• The 38th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (The Hague, 
Netherlands, 24 - 28 April 2006) 
• The 34th Session of the Codex Committee on F ood Labelling (Ottawa, Canada, 1 - 5 May 
2006) 
• The 16th Session of the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods 
(Cancun, Mexico, 8 - 12  May 2006) 
• 27th Session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (Budapest, 
Hungary, 15 - 19 May 2006) 
• 58th Session Executive Committee of the Code x  Alimentarius Commission (Geneva, 
Switzerland, 29 June - 1 July 2006) 
• 29th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Geneva, Switzerland, 3 - 7 July 2006)    
 
In particular, the SPS Committee may wish to  draw its attention to the following: 
4. The 7th Session of the Codex Committee on Milk and Milk Products will be primarily 
involved in the further elaboration and revision of st andards for milk and milk products. In particular, 
this Session of the Committee will consider: amendm ents to the Codex General Standard for Cheese; 
standards for milk products with vegetable fats; revisions of the Codex Standards for individual 
cheeses, dairy spreads, processed cheese, fermented milk drinks and whey cheeses. The Committee 
will further elaborate a model export certificate for mi lk and milk products. It will also consider food 
additive provisions of the Codex Standard for Fermented Milk Products, additional methods of 
analysis and sampling for milk and milk products and issues related to naming non standardised dairy 
products. 
5. The 38
th Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues will consider and propose 
the maximum Residue Limits for Pesticides in Foods and Feeds, including dried Chili peppers for a 
number of pesticides. The Committee intends to finali ze the  risk analysis principles applied by the 
Committee on Pesticide Residues and the Guidelines on the Estimation of Uncertainty of Results.  
The Committee will continue work on the following issues: on the revision of the Codex Classification of Foods and Animal Feeds; the Li st of Methods for pesticide residue analysis 
including methods of determination for dithiocarba mates; the Establishmen t of MRLs for processed 
and ready-to-eat foods.  The Committee will also eval uate the pilot project for estimation of national 
MRLs as Interim Codex MRLs for safer replacement pesticides and will establish a Priority List of 
Pesticides for evaluation by the next Sessions of  the Joint Meeting of Pesticide Residues (JMPR). 
6. The 23
rd Session of the Codex Committee on General Principles in addition to procedural 
matters, will discuss the following: the Proposed Draf t Working Principles for Risk Analysis for Food  G/SPS/GEN/638 
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  Safety, the Proposed Draft Revised Code of Et hics for International Trade in Foods and Pr oposed new 
definitions of risk analysis terms related to food safety. 
7. The 38th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants will 
primarily be involved in the continued elaboration,  including the revision of the Preamble, of the 
Codex General Standard for Food Additives. It w ill examine other issues related to the General 
Standard, including: the endorsement of food additive provisions arising from other Codex 
Committees; specifications for the identity and pur ity of food additives arising from the Joint 
FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives with  a view towards their adoption as Codex 
specifications; proposals for the amendments to the International Numbering System for Food 
Additives. The Committee will also consider issues rela ted to food additives, such as: the use of food 
additive in glazes for foods; the development of gui delines for flavouring agents; the inventory of 
processing aids; and, the harmonization of the term s used by Codex and JECFA. With regard to 
contaminants, the Committee will be involved in the continued elaboration of the Codex General 
Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Foods.  The Committee will be discussing proposals for the 
establishment of maximum levels for: aflatoxin, lead, cadmium, tin and chloropropanol, as well as 
proposed draft sampling plan for aflatoxins, and w ill consider a Code of Practice for the Prevention 
and Reduction of Dioxin and Dioxin-like PCB Contam ination of Foods and Feed and the revision to 
the Guideline Levels for Radionuclides for Use in Inte rnational Trade. It will also discuss papers on 
the contaminations of: aflatoxins in Brazil Nuts; deoxynavelenol (DON); ochr atoxin in wine and in 
coffee and cocoa; chloropropanols; acrylamide; polycyclic hydrocarbons; and guidelines levels for 
methylmercury in fish. 
8. “GSFA Online” was officially launched in Ma rch 2006. “GSFA Online” is a searchable, web-
based version of the Codex General Standard for Food Additives  (CAC/STAN 192-1995). “GSFA 
Online” allows the users to search the Standards by food additive (name, synonym, INS number), by 
functional class of additives, and by food category. “GSFA Online” is currently available in English, 
French and Spanish, at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/gsfaonline , and will be made available in a 
CD-ROM.  
9. The 34th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling  will consider in particular the 
updating of the Guidelines for the Production, Proc essing Labelling and Marketing of Organically 
Produced Foods, the Labelling of Foods and Food I ngredients Obtained through Certain Techniques 
of Genetic Modification / Genetic Engineering, the Quantitative Declaration of Ingredients, and the paper prepared by the WHO in cooperation with FAO on how the implementation of the WHO Global 
Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health in the framework of Codex.   
10. The 16
th Session of the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods will 
consider the recommendations arising from the 66th meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert 
Consultation on Food Additives (JECFA) and will pr oceed with its work on draft Maximum Residues 
Limits for Veterinary Drugs, i.e. trichlorfon, flumequine, pirlimycin, cypermethrin and alpha 
cypermethrin and doramectin, ractopamine and mele ngestrol acetate. The meeting will continue the 
revision of Codex Guidelines for the Establishment of a Regulatory Programme for the Control of Veterinary Drugs in Foods and on Risk Manage ment Methodologies, including Risk Assessment 
Policies, which aims at defining risk assessment policies and risk management guidelines related to 
the establishment of Maximum Residue Limits for Veterinary Drugs in the Committee. The meeting 
will proceed with its work on the identification of Routine Methods of Analysis and Sampling and on 
the determination of priorities for compounds to be  evaluated or re-evaluated by JECFA based on the 
recommendations of the ad-hoc  Working Groups on Methods of Analysis and Sampling and on 
Priorities which will meet on 7
th May 2006. The Committee will also formulate recommendations on 
how to deal with compounds for which an ADI or MRL could not be set. G/SPS/GEN/638 
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  11. The 27
th Session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling  will 
consider Criteria for Evaluating Acceptable Methods  of Analysis, the endorsement of methods of 
analysis and sampling in Codex standards, the conver sion of some methods of analysis into criteria, 
the Criteria for the Methods for the Detecti on and Identification of Foods Derived from 
Biotechnology, the Revision of the IUPAC/ISO/AOAC Protocol for Proficiency Testing, the revision 
and harmonisation of analytical terminol ogy, and uncertainty in sampling.  
III. MEMBERSHIP OF THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION 
12. The membership currently comprises 173 count ries and the European Community, as of 
1 March 2006. 
13. Uzbekistan has become a Member since October 2005.  
 
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