WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/546 
28 February 2005 
 (05-0837) 
Committee of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
INFORMATION ON ACTIVITIES OF THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION 
 
Submission by the Codex Alimentarius Commission 
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 25 February 2005, is being circulated at the request of 
the Codex Alimentarius Commission. 
 
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I. CODEX SESSIONS SINCE THE LAST MEETING OF THE SPS COMMITTEE (27-
28 OCTOBER 2004) 
• The 8th Session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for North America and South 
West Pacific (Apia, Samoa, 19-22 October 2004). 
• The 15th Session of the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods 
(Washington DC, United States, 26-29 October 2004) 
• The 26th Session of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses 
(Bonn, Germany, 1-5 November 2004)  
• The 21st Session of the Codex Committee on Genera l Principles (8-12 November, Paris, 
France) 
• The 14th Session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Latin America and the 
Caribbean (29 November-3 December 2004, Buenos Aires, Argentina) 
• The 13th Session of the Codex Committee on F ood Import and Export Inspection and 
Certification Systems (6-10 December 2004, Melbourne, Australia) 
• The 16th Session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Co mmittee for Africa (25-28 January 2005, 
Rome, Italy) 
• The 55th Session of the Executive Committee (9-11 February 2005, Rome) 
• The 11th Session of the Codex Committee on Meat Hygiene (14-17 February 2005, 
Christchurch, New Zealand) 
• The 19th Session of the Codex Committee on Fats a nd Oils (21-25 Febr uary 2005, London, 
United Kingdom) 
• The 27th Session of the Codex Committee on Fish and Fishery Products (28 February-
4 March 2005, Cape Town, South Africa) G/SPS/GEN/546 
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 1. In particular, the SPS Committee may wish to dr aw its attention to the following meetings. 
2. The 15
th Session of the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods 
continued its work on the elaboration of maximu m residue limits (MRLs), sending five to the 
Commission for adoption.  It recommended the adop tion of the Code of Practice to Minimize and 
Contain Antimicrobial Resistance by the 28th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. 
3. The 13th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and 
Certification Systems  began work on the Proposed Draft Appendices to  the Guidelines on the 
Judgement of Equivalence of Sanitary Measures as sociated with Food Inspection and Certification 
(CAC/GL 53-2003)  and decided to focus on the following three objectives as a first priority: (1) 
Documentation for evaluation of submissions of  requests for equivalence determinations; (2) 
Determining an "objective basis of comparison"; and (3) More details on the process of judging 
equivalence.  It was agreed that after these objec tives were met then attention would focus on: (1) 
Assessing which measures are to be the subject of an  equivalence determinati on; (2) Terms for on-site 
visits by importing country authorities undertaki ng a determination of equivalence; and (3) 
Information relating to the need for technical  assistance and cooperation between the importing 
countries to exporting countries. 
4. The Committee recommended the 28th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission adopt 
the Principles for Electronic Certification and to attach them as an Appendix to the Codex Guidelines 
for Generic Official Certification Formats and the Production and Issuance of Certificates.  
5. In addition, the Committee continued work on the proposed draft Guidelines for Risk-Based 
Inspection of Imported Foods  and agreed on the need to develop principles for the application of 
traceability/product tracing in the context of food  import and export inspection and certification 
systems.  The Committee requested the 28th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission to initiate 
new work on this subject. 
6. The Committee also agreed to recommend to the 28th Session of the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission to add a footnote to paragraph 35 of the Codex Guidelines for Food Import Control 
Systems  to refer to the WTO Decision WT/MIN (01)/17, which, inter alia,  specified that "a reasonable 
interval . . . shall be understood to mean normally a period of not less than six months " subject to a 
number of provisions. 
7. The 11th Session of the Codex Committee on Meat Hygiene agreed to forward the draft 
Code of Hygienic Practice for Meat  to the 28th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission for 
final adoption and to request the Commission to revoke  relevant Codex Codes of Practice that were 
superseded by the draft Code. 
II. FORTHCOMING CODEX MEETINGS  
• The 3rd Session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Near East  (7-10 March 2005, 
Amman, Jordan) 
• The 37th Session of the Codex Committee on F ood Hygiene  (14-19 March 2005, Buenos 
Aires, Argentina) 
• The 26th Session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (4-8 April 
2005, Budapest, Hungary) 
• The 22nd Session of the Codex Committee on Gene ral Principles (11-15 April 2005, Paris, 
France)  G/SPS/GEN/546 
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 • The 37th Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (18-23 April 2005, The 
Hague, Netherlands) 
• The 37th Session of the Codex Committee on F ood Additives and Contaminants (25-29 April 
2005, The Hague, Netherlands) 
• The 33rd Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (9-13 May 2005, Kota 
Kinabalu, Malaysia) 
• The 12th Session of the Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (16-20 May 2005, 
Mexico City, Mexico) 
• The 56th Session of the Executive Committee of  the Codex Alimentarius Commission 
(30 June – 2 July 2005, Rome, Italy) 
• The 28th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (4-9 July 2005, Rome, Italy) 
8. In particular, the SPS Committee may wish to dr aw its attention to the following meetings. 
9. The 37th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene  will continue with the 
development of several documents, including:  the Proposed Draft Revision of the Recommended 
International Code of Hygienic Practice for Foods for Infants and Children , the Proposed Draft 
Guidelines on the Application of General Principl es of Food Hygiene to the [Management] of Listeria 
monocytogenes in Foods,  the Proposed Draft Guidelines for the Validation of Food Hygiene Control 
Measures , and the Proposed Draft Revision of the Code of  Hygienic Practice for Egg Products.  
10. The 26th Session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling will 
continue work on:  the Criteria for Evaluating Acceptable Methods of Analysis, including the Draft 
Guidelines for Evaluating Acceptable Methods of Analysis  and Proposed Draft Guidelines for Settling 
Disputes over Analytical (Test) Results ;  Review of the Analytical Terminology for Codex Use  in the 
Procedural Manual; The Use of Analytical Results: Sampling Plans, Relationship between the Analytical Results, the Measurement of Uncertainty, Recovery Factors and Provisions in Codex Standards (for inclusion in the Codex Procedural  Manual);  the Criteria for the Methods for the 
Detection and Identification of Foods Derived from Biotechnology;  and Methods of Analysis for the 
Determination of Dioxins and PCBs. 
11. The 22
nd Session of the Codex Committee on General Principles in addition to procedural 
matters, will discuss the following: the Proposed Draft Working Principles for Risk Analysis for Food 
Safety  and the Proposed Draft Revised Code of Ethics  for International Trade in Foods.  
12. The 37th Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues will continue to elaborate 
maximum residue limits for pesticides (MRLs) and extraneous maximum residue limits (EMRLs) in 
or on foods and feeds moving in internationa l trade and revise or recommend to revoke, if 
appropriate, existing MRLs/EMRLs  based on its previous discussi ons and recommendations made by 
the Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residue s (JMPR).  The Committee will also discuss the 
risk analysis policies in the elaboration of Code x standards as it relates to the establishment of 
MRLs/EMRLs.  The Committee will also consider: the Discussion Paper on Probabilistic Modelling – 
'MRLs: Health or Trade Limits?'; the Pilot Project  for the Examination of National MRLs as Interim 
Codex MRLs for Safer Replacement Pesticides; Es tablishment of MRLs for Processed or Ready-to-
Eat Foods;  revision of the Codex Classifica tion of Foods and Animal Feeds and Matters  Related to 
Methods of Analysis for Pesticide Residues. 
13. The 37th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants  will take 
into account the recommendations of the 63rd and 64th Meetings of the Jo int FAO/WHO Expert 
Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) in consider ing the establishment of Maximum Limits for 
additives and contaminants.  The Committee w ill primarily be involved in th e continued elaboration of G/SPS/GEN/546 
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 the Codex General Standard for Food Additives.  It  will also examine other issues related to the 
General Standard, including the endorsement of food additive provisions arising from other Codex 
Committees.  The Committee will also consider specific issues related to food additives, such as:  the 
harmonization of the terms used by Codex and JE CFA, carrier substances for food additives, the 
inventory list of processing ai ds, and flavouring agents. 
14. With regard to contaminants, the Committee will be involved in the con tinued elaboration of 
the Codex General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Foods.  The Committee will discuss 
proposals for the establishment of maximum levels  for lead, cadmium and tin, as well as proposed 
draft Codes of Practice for the Prevention and Reduc tion of Inorganic Tin Contamination in Canned 
Foods  and Source Directed Measures to Reduce Diox in and Dioxin-like PCB Contamination of 
Foods .  Proposed maximum levels and sampling plan s for aflatoxin in unprocessed and processed 
almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios and the Code of Practice for the Prevention and Reduction of 
Aflatoxin Contamination in Tree Nuts  will be discussed.  In addition,  the Committee will consider the 
draft revision of the Guideline Levels for Radionuclides in Foods Following Accidental Nuclear 
Contamination . 
III. REVIEW OF CODEX COMMITTEE STRUCTURE AND MANDATES OF CODEX 
COMMITTEES AND TASK FORCES 
15. As a follow up to the Joint FAO/WHO Evaluati on of the Codex Alimentarius and Other FAO 
and WHO Work on Food Standards, conducted in  2002, and the ongoing implementation of its 
recommendations by Codex, a team of consultants was recruited to conduct a review of the Codex 
Committee structure and the mandates of Codex Committees and Task Forces, with a view to 
formulating recommendations for consideration by the Commission.  To assist the work of the 
consultants, a questionnaire had been sent to the chairpersons of Codex Committees and Task Forces 
and the host governments.  The consultants prepar ed a Preliminary Report based on the responses to 
the questionnaire and the information provided by the officers of the Codex Secretariat and it was presented to the 55th Session of the Executive Comm ittee (February 2005) along with a number of 
proposals and recommendations.  The Executive Co mmittee provided their recommendations on ways 
to progress with the review.  A Final Report by th e consultants will be circulated for government 
comments and presented to the 56th Session of the Executive Committee, followed by discussion at 
the 28th Codex Alimentarius Commission (July 2005). 
IV. MEMBERSHIP OF THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION 
16. The membership currently comprises 171 Member Nations and one Member Organization.   
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