6 -10 November 2006

CODEX – Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (15th Session), Mar del Plata, Argentina

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The Fifteenth Session of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems reached the following conclusions:

Matters for Adoption by the 30th Session of the Commission

The Committee:

• Agreed to advance the renamed proposed draft Guidelines for Generic Official Certificate Formats and the Design, Production, Issuance and Use of Certificates to Steps 5/8, with the omission of Steps 6 and 7, for adoption by the 30th Session of the Commission (see para. 39 and Appendix II).

Matters of Interest to the 30th Session of the Commission

The Committee:

• In view of the several attestations that may be included in a food certificate e.g. animal health and/or plant health attestations, and of the possible inconsistencies among these attestations, recommended that the Codex Alimentarius Commission coordinate its work on certificates with OIE and IPPC and other organisations as appropriate (see para. 40);
• Agreed to return the proposed draft Appendices to the Guidelines on the Judgement of Equivalence of Sanitary Measures Associated with Food Inspection and Certification to Step 2 for redrafting by a physical Working Group, led by the United States , comments at Step 3 and consideration by its next session (see para. 59).

Matters of Interest to other Committees

Codex Committee on General Principles

The Committee:

• forwarded the following to the 24th Session of CCGP for its consideration:
  • Codex should encourage member countries to further implement the provisions in existing CCFICS texts related to the “subsequent export of food, whether imported or produced domestically, that had been found to be unsafe or unsuitable”;
  • Codex should encourage FAO and other international organizations to give priority to providing technical assistance to member countries with insufficient capacity for establishing and implementing food import and export control systems;
  • Codex should encourage those member countries with insufficient control systems to give priority in their capacity building/technical assistance needs assessments to the issue of import control systems.

Codex Committee on Milk and Milk Products

• The Australian Secretariat to the CCFICS prepare a working document on the consistency of the draft Model Export Certificate for Milk and Milk Products with the result of the revision of the Codex Guidelines for Generic Official Certificate Formats and the Production and Issuance (CAC/GL 38- 2001) for consideration at its next session (see para. 7);

Others Matters

The Committee agreed that:

• Generally supported Recommendation (1) of the report of the electronic Working Group on the issue referred to by the 22nd Session of the Codex Committee on General Principles (CCGP), to identify the specific provisions that may need to be amended or added and to submit specific proposals for new work. It agreed at its next Session to take into account the outcomes of discussion of the 24th Session of CCGP (2-6 April 2007) on the revision of the Codex Code of Ethics for International Trade in Foods (CAC/RCP 20-1979) (see para. 62) and could not reach consensus on Recommendation (3) concerning the establishment of a general principle along the following line “A country should not export or re-export food to a country if this food is generally recognized dangerous, unfit for human consumption, adulterated, or misleading to the consumers” (see para. 64);
• The Delegation of New Zealand prepare a comprehensive discussion paper, to justify the need for the revision of the Codex Principles for Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification (CAC/GL 20-1995) and the Codex Guidelines for the Design, Operation, Assessment and Accreditation of Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CAC/GL 26-1997) and to identify the elements of the two documents to be revised, for consideration at its next session (see para. 70);
• The Delegation of Australia prepare a comprehensive discussion paper identifying areas where guidance for national food inspection systems was needed and providing scope, justification and rationale for new work, for consideration at its next session (see para. 73);
• An electronic Working Group, led by Australia, prepare a comprehensive discussion paper on the scope, justification and rationale for new work on the development of Guidelines for the Conduct of Foreign Audit Team Inspections, for consideration at its next session (see para. 75);
• The Delegation of Norway prepare a discussion paper on the need for further guidance on traceability/product tracing (see para. 77).