10-14 April 2000: COMMITTEE - General Principles (15th Session)

Codex Committee on General Principles,
15th Session, Paris, France, 10-14 April 2000

• agreed to ask for further comments on a revised text of the Proposed Draft Working Principles for Risk Analysis, and in particular to consider further the use of precaution in risk management as a "precautionary principle or approach" at the next session;
• agreed to propose an amendment to Rule VI.4 on voting to make it clear that the request for a roll-call vote was subject to the recently amended Rule X.2, whereby all efforts should be made to reach decisions by consensus for the adoption or amendment of Codex standards; the Committee also proposed practical measures intended to facilitate consensus;
• agreed that the next session should discuss further the proposed amendments to the composition of the Executive Committee and consider the alternative of holding sessions of the Codex Alimentarius Commission on a yearly basis, as provided for in Rule IV.1, and abolishing the Executive Committee;
• agreed to ask for further comments on criteria for the integration of "other legitimate factors" in the Codex decision process in relation to risk analysis;
• agreed to ask for further comments on the Proposed Draft Revised Code of Ethics for International Trade in Foods;
• agreed on a number of criteria to be used as a basis for regular reports on consumer participation in Codex and at the national level, and agreed that the monitoring of such information should continue in the Regional Coordinating Committees.