2 – 6 April 2007

CODEX - Committee on General Principles (24th Session), Paris, France

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The summary and conclusions of the 24th Session of the Codex Committee on General Principles are as follows:

Matters for adoption by the Commission:

The Committee agreed to forward to the Commission:

• the proposed amendments to the text under the heading “Contaminants” in the Format for Commodity Standards (para. 13, Appendix VII);
• the proposed amendments to section 6, paragraph 1 of the “Principles Concerning the Participation of International Non-Governmental Organizations in the Work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission” (para. 26, Appendix VII);
• the Draft Risk Analysis Principles Applied by the Committee on Pesticide Residues (para. 34, Appendix II);
• the Proposed Draft Risk Management Methodologies, including Risk Assessment Policies in the Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (para. 39, Appendices III/IV);
• the Proposed Amendment of the Principles for the Establishment or Selection of Codex Sampling Procedures (para. 42, Appendix V);
• the Proposed Procedure for Consideration of the Entry and Review of Food Additive Provisions in the GSFA (para. 46, Appendix VI);
• the Proposed Draft Working Principles for Risk Analysis for Food Safety for Application by Governments for adoption at Step 5 with a recommendation to omit Steps 6 and 7 and adoption at Step 8 (para. 89, Appendix VIII);
• the proposed recommendations from the CCFICS related to the Code of Ethics (para 107);
• the proposed amendments to harmonise the text concerning the membership of the Coordinating Committee for Europe with that of the other Coordinating Committees (para. 114, Appendix VII);
• the proposed amendments to the Rules of Procedure on the responsibilities of Coordinators and the respective roles in the Executive Committee of the Regional Coordinators and the Members elected on a geographical basis (para. 114, Appendix X);
• the proposed amendments to the Guide to the Procedure for the Revision and Amendment of Codex Standards and Arrangements for the Amendments of Codex Standards Elaborated by Codex Committees which have been adjourned sine die (para. 142, Appendix XI);
• the proposed Amendments to the General Principles of the Codex Alimentarius (para. 146, Appendix XII).

Other matters of interest to the Commission:

The Committee:

• agreed that there was no consensus to reinsert the Guide to the Consideration of Standards at Step 8 in the Procedural Manual and agreed to inform the Commission that it confirmed its earlier decision and did not wish to reconsider this question further;
• agreed that all Coordinating Committees be invited to discuss institutional and other implications of changing their terms of reference, at their next session and that those Coordinating Committees wishing to practice the adoption of regional positions should continue to do so under their current terms of reference and to report back to the 25th session of the CCGP on their experiences (para. 22);
• decided to circulate the Proposed Draft Code of Ethics for International Trade in Food for comments at Step 3 (para 106, Appendix IX);
• the Committee agreed to forward the content of the discussion on proposed draft amendments to the procedures for elaboration of Codex standards and related texts to the Commission for further advice (paras 116-130).