Codex Reports, 30 June – 4 July 2008
The following is the EXECUTIVE SUMMARY taken from an advance copy of the report of the meeting held in Geneva from 30 June until 4 July 2008. The full reprt is available on the Codex web site at: ftp://ftp.fao.org/codex/Alinorm08/al31REP_adv.pdf
The Commission:
a) Adopted several amendments to the Procedural Manual;
b) Adopted 35 new or revised Codex standards or related texts;
c) Approved a number of new work proposals and proposals for discontinuation of work;
d) Noted the Codex budget and expenditure for 2006-2007; noted the funding situation of the Codex programme in 2008-09 and its implications to Codex work including the decreasing share of the WHO contribution to the Codex budget; regretted that one of the implications was that the Executive Committee would meet only three times in the biennium and that Russian would not be added as a language of the Commission, due to lack of funds; agreed that the usefulness of Portuguese as a language of interpretation in the Coordinating Committee for Africa be evaluated at the 32nd Session of the Commission; also agreed to encourage all Codex members to make the best use of electronic means of communication; requested FAO and WHO to assign high priority to Codex when determining their budgets, including the allotment for 2009 and the biennial budget 2010-2011;
e) Noted with satisfaction that all proposals based on the recommendations from the Codex Evaluation (2002) had been implemented and agreed that the item did not require further consideration at its next session; noted that the proposal relating to consensus would be considered by the 25th Session of the Committee on General Principles; and agreed that the structure and mandates of Codex Committees and related issues would be considered further by the next sessions of the Executive Committee and the Commission;
f) Noted the status of implementation of the Strategic Plan 2008-2013 and agreed on the action to be taken to implement some specific activities;
g) Agreed that the issue of participation of developing countries would be considered by the 25th Session of the Committee on General Principles on the basis of a document prepared by the Secretariat; recommended that Coordinating Committees consider this issue and report their views to the 32nd Session of the Commission;
h) Agreed to postpone decision of possible new work on animal feeding until its 32nd Session;
i) Agreed to postpone the issue of the use of the lactoperoxidase system until its 32nd Session;
j) Supported continued cooperation and coordination with international governmental and nongovernmental organizations;
k) Expressed its appreciation to FAO and WHO for their ongoing activities in support of Codex, namely provision of scientific advice and capacity building in food safety and quality;
l) Elected the following Officers of the Commission and other members of the Executive Committee:
m) Confirmed the host governments of Codex subsidiary bodies;
n) Agreed to dissolve the Ad hoc Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology and the Ad hoc Task Force on the Processing and Handling of Quick Frozen Foods as their work had been completed, and to adjourn since die the Committee on Natural Mineral Waters.