Codex Report, 21 – 25 January 2013

CODEX - Report of the Seventh Session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for the Near East

The Seventh Session of the Codex Coordinating Committee for the Near East reached the following conclusions:

Matters for consideration by the 36th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission

Draft and Proposed Draft Standards and Related Texts for adoption at Steps 8 or 5/8 of the Procedure

The Coordinating Committee forwarded the:

• Draft Regional Code of Practice for Street Vended Foods for adoption at Step 8 (para. 46) and Appendix II) (revision of the hygiene provisions following endorsement by CCFH);
• Proposed Draft Regional Standard for Date Paste for adoption at Steps 5/8 (para. 89 and Appendix III).

Other matters for information

The Coordinating Committee:

• Supported further Codex work on processed cheese and noted that the number of emerging diverging national standards for these products in the absence of a Codex standard could lead to problems in international trade and made proposals for the scope of possible future work (para 20).
• Supported the creation of a new Codex Committee for Spices, Aromatic Plants and their Formulations (para 26).
• Clarified questions from the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (para 47),
• Considered the Draft Strategic Plan 2014 – 2019 and made a number of comments and suggestions (paras 48 – 69).
• Returned the proposed draft Standard for Doogh to step 2 for redrafting by an electronic working group (para 81);
• Exchanged information on updates since the last session on national food control systems, and consumer participation in food standard setting, use of Codex standards at national and regional level and nutritional issues within the region and members indicated training needs (paras 100 – 104)
• Decided that more information was needed before requesting new work on a standard for camel milk (para. 99).
• Noted information for the coding, classification and registration of foods (paras 105 -110)
• Decided to submit project documents for new work on halal food, labneh, zaatar and refrigerated and frozen meat (paras 117, 122 and 125).
• Decided to start the development of a regional strategic plan (para 127).
• Requested the Codex Secretariat to make Codex Special Publications available in print also in Arabic language (para 131).
• Nominated Lebanon as Coordinator for the Near East region for a second term (para 118).

For a copy of the full report, go to: http://www.codexalimentarius.org/download/report/790/REP13_NEe.pdf