. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/1010 
31 March 2010 
 (10-1741) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
INFORMATION ON ACTIVITIES 
 
Submission by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex)
 
Meeting of 17-18 March 2010  
 
 
 The following communication, received on 16 Marc h 2010, is being circulated at the request 
of the Codex  secretariat. 
 
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I. CODEX SESSIONS SINCE THE LAST MEETING OF THE SPS COMMITTEE 
(OCTOBER 2009) 
 
• The 31st Session of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary 
Uses  (Düsseldorf, Germany, 2-6 November 2009)  
• The 41st Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (San Diego, United States 
of America, 16-20 November 2009) 
• The 63rd Session of the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission 
(Geneva, Switzerland, 8-11 December 2009) 
• The Ninth Session of the Codex Committee on Milk and Milk Products (Auckland, 
New Zealand, 1-5 February 2010) 
• The 18th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and 
Certification Systems (Surfers’ Pa radise, Australia, 1-5 March 2010) 
• The 31st Session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling 
(Budapest, Hungary, 8-12 March 2010) 
 In particular, the SPS Committee may wish to note the following:  1. The Third Session of the Ad hoc  Intergovernmental Task For ce on Antimicrobial Resistance 
forwarded the Proposed Draft Guidelines for Risk An alysis of Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistance to 
the Commission for adoption as Draft Guidelines and finalisation at its next session in 2010, as the 
Task Force should hold its final mee ting and complete its work in 2010. 
2. The 41
st Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene finalised the following proposed 
drafts: Annex on Leafy Green Vegetables including Leafy Herbs for inclusion in the Code of Hygienic Practice for Fresh Fruits and Vegetabl es; Code of Hygienic Practice for Pathogenic Vibrio 
spp. in Seafood and an Annex on Control Measures for Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus  
in Molluscan Shellfish; and Risk Analysis Pr inciples and Procedures Applied by the Codex 
Committee on Food Hygiene. G/SPS/GEN/1010 
Page 2  
 
  3. The 18
th Session of the Codex Committee on F ood Import and Export Inspection and 
Certification Systems  finalized the Principles and Guidelines fo r the conduct of assessment of foreign 
official inspection and certification systems (Annex to the Guidelines for the design, operation, 
assessment and accreditation of food import and export inspection and certification systems) . 
II. FORTHCOMING CODEX MEETINGS  
• Codex Committee on Food Additives (42nd Session,  Beijing, China, 15-
19 March 2010) 
• Codex Committee on General Principles (26th Session, Paris, France, 12-
16 April 2010) 
• Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (4th Session, Izmir, Turkey, 26-
30 April 2010) 
• Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (42nd Session, Xian, China, 19-
24 April 2010) 
• Codex Committee on Food Labelling (38th Session, Québec City, Canada, 3-
5 May 2010) 
 4. The Codex Committee on Food Additives  will proceed with the continued elaboration of the 
General Standard for Food Additives (GSFA), wh ich encompasses a comprehensive listing of all 
provisions for food additives used in all foods, and will examine other issues related to the General 
Standard, including the Food Category System of the GSFA; the endorsement of food additive 
provisions arising from other Codex Committees; and specifications for the identity and purity of food 
additives arising from the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives with a view to their 
adoption as Codex specifications.  The Committee will c onsider other issues related to food additives, 
such as the development of guidelines for the use of processing aids.  It will also consider 
amendments and/or addition to the priority list of  food additives proposed for evaluation by JECFA 
and the Standard for Food Grade Salt. 
5. The Codex Committee  on General Principles  will consider the  Proposed Draft Revised Code 
of Ethics for International Trade in Foods, and review the Risk Analysis Policies of Codex 
Committees, as well as several general and procedural questions.  
6. The Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods  will consider development of the following 
codes and maximum levels: Code of Practice for the Reduction of Ethyl Carbamate in Stone Fruit 
Distillates,  Maximum Levels for Melamine in Food and Feed,  Maxi mum Levels for Total Aflatoxins 
in Brazil Nuts, Revision of the Code of Practice for the Preventi on and Reduction of Aflatoxin in Tree 
Nuts (additional measures for Brazil nuts), and Maximu m Levels for Fumonisins in Maize and Maize-
Products and Associated Sampling Plans. 
7. The Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCP R) will consider the Draft and Proposed 
Draft Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticides in Fo ods and Feeds, including revocation of existing 
MRLs and combined lists of MRLs for certain se ts of related pesticides.  The Committee will 
continue its work on the revision of the Codex Classification of Foods and Animal Feeds.  The 
Committee will consider the revision of the Risk Analysis Principles applied by the CCPR and the 
revision of the Guidelines on the Estimation of Uncertainty of Results for the Determination of 
Pesticide Residues  among other issues related to the establishment of pesticide MRLs.  
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