ALINORM 04/27/38

JOINT FAO/WHO FOOD STANDARDS PROGRAMME
CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION

Twenty-Seventh Session
Geneva, Switzerland, 28 June – 3 July 2004

REPORT OF THE FIFTH SESSION OF THE AD HOC INTERGOVERNMENTAL
CODEX TASK FORCE ON ANIMAL FEEDING

Copenhagen, Denmark
17 -19 May 2004

Note: This report includes Codex Circular Letter CL 2004/19-AF

CX 4/90.1 CL 2004/19-AF
May 2004

To: Codex Contact Points
Interested International Organizations

From: Secretary, Codex Alimentarius Commission
Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme
00100 Rome, Italy

Subject: Distribution of the Report of the Fifth Session of the ad hoc Intergovernmental Codex task Force on Animal Feeding
(ALINORM 04/27/38)

The report of the Fifth Session of the ad hoc Intergovernmental Codex Task Force on Animal Feeding will be considered by the 27^th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Geneva, Switzerland, 28 June – 3 July 2004).

Definition of Feed Additives and paragraphs 11 and 12 of the Draft Code of Practice on Good Animal Feeding, advanced to Step 8 of the Codex Procedure (ALINORM 04/27/38 - Appendix II). See also paras 16 through 28 of this report.
Governments and interested international organizations are invited to comment on the above document and should do so in conformity with the Uniform Procedure for the Elaboration of Codex Standards and Related Texts (see Codex Alimentarius Procedural Manual, Thirteenth Edition, pages 20-22). Comments should be forwarded to the Secretary of the Codex Alimentarius Commission - Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00100 Rome, Italy. Fax:+39 06 5705 4593, e-mail: [email protected]; not later than 18 June 2004.

Contents

Summary and Conclusions page v
List of Abbreviations page vi
Report of the Fifth Session of the ad hoc Intergovernmental Codex Task
Force on Animal Feeding page 1
Summary Status of Work page 6
Paragraph
Opening of the Session 1 - 2
Adoption of the Agenda (Agenda Item 1) 3
Matters of Referred and/or of Interest to the Task Force arising from the Codex
Alimentarius Commission and other Codex Committees (Agenda Item 2 a) 4
Report on FAO, WHO and OIE Activities (Agenda Item 2 b) 5 - 15
Consideration on Definition of “Feed Additives” and Paragraphs 11, 12 and 13
of the Draft Code of Practice on Good Animal feeding (Agenda Item 3) 16 - 28
Future Work (Agenda Item 4) 29 - 36

Appendix I: List of Participants page 7
Appendix II: Definition of Feed Additives, paragraphs 11 and 12 of the
Draft Code of Practice on Good Animal Feeding page 21

Summary and Conclusions

The Fifth Session of the ad hoc Intergovernmental Codex Task Force on Animal Feeding reached the following conclusions:
• Forwarded the definition of “feed additives” and paragraphs 11 and 12 of the draft Code of Practice on Good Animal Feeding to the 27^th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission for adoption at Step 8 and inclusion in the draft Code of Practice on Good Animal Feeding (para. 28 and Appendix II);
• Noted that it completed the work on the Draft Code of Practice on Good Animal Feeding and agreed that further work in the area of animal feed was needed and that specific project proposals for new work should be prepared and submitted to the Commission for consideration. It agreed to refer the above discussion to the Commission with the understanding that it would provide clarification on how to proceed in this regard (para. 36).

List of Abbreviations Used in this Report

BSE Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
CAC/RCP Codex Alimentarius Commission Recommended Code of Practice
CCFICS Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems
CCGP Codex Committee on General Principles
CL Circular Letter
CRD Conference Room Document
EC European Community
EMRLs Extraneous Maximum Residue Limits
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
GMOs Genetically modified organisms
GMPs Good manufacturing practices
HACCP Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point
MRLs Maximum Residue Limits
NGOs Non Governmental Organizations
OIE Office International des Epizooties / International Office of Epizootics
WHO World Health Organization

REPORT OF THE FIFTH SESSION OF THE AD HOC CODEX INTERGOVERNMENTAL TASK FORCE ON ANIMAL FEEDING

OPENING OF THE SESSION
1. The Fifth Session of the ad hoc Codex Intergovernmental Task Force on Animal Feeding was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 17 to 19 May 2004, at the kind invitation of the Government of Denmark. The Session was chaired by Mr Gorm Lunn, Head of Division, Danish Plant Directorate. The Session was attended by 115 participants from 40 Member Countries and one Member Organization and 11 international organizations. A complete list of participants is attached as Appendix I to this report.
2. The Delegation of the European Community presented CRD 1 on the division of competence between the European Community and its Member States according to paragraph 5, Rule II.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA (Agenda Item 1)¹
3. The Task Force adopted the Provisional Agenda as the Agenda of the Session.
MATTERS REFERRED AND/OR OF INTEREST TO THE TASK FORCE ARISING FROM THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION AND OTHER CODEX COMMITTEES
(Agenda Item 2a)²
4. The Task Force noted Matters Referred and/or of Interest Arising from the 26^th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and other Codex Committees in relation to: Amendments to the Procedural Manual; Risk Analysis; Joint FAO/WHO Evaluation of the Codex Alimentarius and other FAO and WHO Work on Food Standards; FAO/WHO Trust Fund for Participation of Developing Countries in Codex Standard Setting Procedures; Decisions of the 26^th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission regarding the work of the Task Force; and, the update of the Discussions concerning Traceability/Product tracing.
REPORT ON FAO, WHO AND OIE ACTIVITIES (Agenda Item 2b)³
5. The Task Force noted the reports of FAO, WHO and OIE activities related to animal feeding, as follows:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
6. The FAO Representative informed the Task Force that in the FAO Programme of Work and Budget 2004-2005, there was an Entity on “Veterinary Public Health and Food and Feed Safety” which included a Major Output entitled: Food safety measures and the application of quality control along the "stable to table" process.
7. The Representative informed the Task Force of the development of Guidelines for Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) along the food-chain done in the context of Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SARD); the organization with the International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF) of a Food-Feed Safety Conference (Rome, Italy - October 2003) and of a Seminar on Feed Safety in Africa (Sun City, South Africa - March 2004); and with the International Dairy Federation (IDF), of an International Symposium on Dairy Hygiene and Safety (Cape Town, South Africa - March 2004).
8. It was also indicated that regional/sub-regional workshops on Food and Feed Safety would also be organized in Bangkok (Thailand), Cairo (Egypt) and Tunis (Tunisia) throughout the course of the year and that the Workshop in Tunisia (September 2004) would focus on Good Practices for the Poultry Sector in Northern Africa and would address issues like the application of good practices in the production of poultry feed.
9. The Representative pointed out that the Report and Proceedings of the Expert Consultation and Workshop on Alternative Protein Sources for the Animal Feed Industry (Bangkok, 2002) with support from IFIF, have been published in October 2003 and that an FAO publication on “Assessing the quality and safety of animal feeds” was in press. It was also indicated that FAO was planning to release a Manual of Good Practices for the Feed Industry and to define Guidelines for Trade in Animal Feed. The purpose of the Manual was to provide updated comprehensive information and practical guidelines for the implementation of the new Code, when adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
10. Additional information was also provided on Technical Cooperation and General Cooperation Projects on feed safety and capacity building for surveillance and prevention of BSE and other zoonotic diseases.
World Health Organization (WHO)
11. The Representative of WHO provided an update on the two workshops on non-human use of antimicrobials and antimicrobial resistance organized jointly with FAO and OIE, in response to a recommendation from the 48^th Session of the Codex Executive Committee.
12. The Representative indicated that the first Workshop on Non-human Antimicrobial Usage (Geneva, Switzerland - December 2003) conducted a preliminary scientific assessment considering all non-human uses of antimicrobials in animals (including aquaculture) and plants, and their role in antimicrobial resistance, based on the available scientific information. The second Workshop (Oslo, Norway - March 2004) considered the broad range of possible risk management options and included the participation of all major stakeholders groups. In particular, it focused on potential directions of future Codex, FAO, OIE and WHO work in this area, in order to prevent and minimize antimicrobial resistance at the global level.
13. The Workshop concluded that the risks associated with non-human antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance should be part of the human safety assessment and that through implementation of good agricultural practices it was possible to reduce the necessity for antimicrobials. In addition, the concept of critically important classes of antimicrobials for humans should be further developed by WHO. FAO, OIE and WHO should take a leading role in capacity building, networking and co-ordination to facilitate implementation of surveillance programmes in various countries.
14. The Representative informed the Task Force that it was suggested that a Codex/OIE Task Force should be established to develop risk management options for antimicrobial resistance related to non-human use of antimicrobials. This proposal was based on the recognition that international standards, with respect to antimicrobial resistant bacteria should be developed through the risk-analysis process, and that risk-management activities within Codex and OIE need alignment.
15. The reports of both workshops were published by WHO and also made available on the webpages of all three participating organizations.
CONSIDERATION ON DEFINITION OF “FEED ADDITIVES”, PARAGRAPHS 11, 12 AND 13 OF THE DRAFT CODE OF PRACTICE ON GOOD ANIMAL FEEDING (Agenda Item 3)⁴
16. The Task Force recalled that the 26^th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission advanced the definition of “feed additives” and paragraphs 11, 12 and 13 of the proposed draft Code of Practice on Good Animal Feeding to Step 6 for further consideration by an additional Session of the Task Force, while holding the remaining part of the Code at Step 8.⁵
17. The Task Force considered the definition of feed additives, paragraph 11 and paragraphs 12 and 13 and agreed to the following:
Definition of Feed Additives
18. The Task Force agreed to add a footnote to the definition of feed additives, i.e. “Microorganisms, enzymes, acidity regulators, trace elements, vitamins, and other products fall within the scope of this definition depending on the purpose of use and method of administration” to provide clarification as to the types of feed additives covered by the definition. The Task Force amended the footnote by substituting the term “similar” with “other” in order to allow more flexibility.
19. To the proposal of the Delegation of India to include in the footnote a reference allowing the use of extracts of herbal origin, the Task Force commented that their use as feed additives should be considered on a case-by-case basis and that the amended definition already allowed for their use, in certain circumstances.
20. In recalling that the inclusion of a reference to “improved animal performance” in the definition had been already considered in previous meetings, the Task Force agreed not to include this change.
21. The Delegation of India suggested to delete from the definition of feed additives the wording “whether or not it has a nutritive value”. The Task Force considered this deletion not necessary since substances such as preservatives are used as feed additives.
Paragraph 11
22. The Task Force noted that the issue of labelling of genetically modified organisms was under debate in many countries and in the Codex Committee on Food Labelling, therefore it agreed that it was premature to include a provision to this effect in the Code. Consequently, the Task Force deleted the entire paragraph and substituted it with the following text and footnote:
“This subsection does not apply to labelling of feed and feed ingredients derived from modern biotechnology⁽¹⁾ .
⁽¹⁾ Whether and how to label animal feed and feed ingredients derived from modern biotechnology awaits developments on food labelling, being considered by the Codex Committee on Food Labelling.
Paragraphs 12 and 13
23. The Task Force was informed that the 20^th Session of the Codex Committee on General Principles (May 2004) forwarded the definition of Traceability/Product Tracing to the 27^th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission for adoption and inclusion in the Procedural Manual. It also noted that the Committee, in taking this decision, made, among others, the following observations: the inclusion of feed and food producing animals in the general definition might pose difficulties; the Codex definition of “food” only covered products for human consumption and not “feed”; and that this Codex definition anyway might still be able to be used by the Task Force.
24. The Task Force agreed to add a footnote to the title of Section 4.3 “Traceability/Product Tracing and Record Keeping of Feed and Feed Ingredients” to indicate that the definition developed by the Codex Committee on General Principles applied to the Code as appropriate.
25. The Task Force also agreed that traceability/product tracing of feed and feed ingredients, including additives, should be enabled by proper record keeping; it deleted the reference to labelling in recognising that labelling was already dealt in Section 4.2 of the Code and that feed is also traded in bulk. In noting the difficulties in certain production systems to trace back and forward throughout the entire feed chain, the Task Force specified the paragraph to read that “the prompt trace-back of feed and feed ingredients should be to the immediate previous source and trace-forward should be to the next subsequent recipients”. The Task Force agreed to the following revised paragraph and footnotes:
Traceability/product tracing of feed and feed ingredients, including additives, should be enabled by proper record keeping for timely and effective withdrawal or recall of products if known or probable adverse effects on consumer health are identified. Records should be maintained and readily available regarding the production, distribution and use of feed and feed ingredients to facilitate the prompt trace-back of feed and feed ingredients to the immediate previous source and trace-forward to the next subsequent recipients if known or probable adverse effects on consumers health are identified ⁽²⁾.
⁽¹⁾ As appropriate, the definition of Traceability/Product Tracing developed by the Codex Committee on General Principles (CCGP) applies.
⁽²⁾ Development of detailed measures on traceability/product tracing should await the conclusion of discussions on traceability/product tracing in the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS).
26. The Delegation of India proposed to clarify how long records and samples should be kept. However, in recognising the difficulty to fix a time limit that applies to all types of feed (liquid, moist and dry), and the need to maintain a general approach in the Code, the Task Force did not agree to this proposal.
27. The Task Force deleted the entire paragraph 13 as it contained too detailed provisions. In recognising that the ongoing work of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS) might provide guidance for the further development of specific measures to enable traceability/product tracing for feed, the Task Force agreed to add the following footnote at the end of the revised paragraph 12:
Development of detailed measures on traceability/product tracing should await the conclusion of discussions on traceability/product tracing in the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS).
Status of the Definition of Feed additives paragraphs 11, 12 and 13 of the Draft Code of Practice on Good Animal Feeding (
28. The Task Force forwarded the definition of feed additives, paragraphs 11 and 12 (see Appendix II) to the 27^th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission for adoption at Step 8 and inclusion in the draft Code of Practice on Good Animal Feeding.
OTHER BUSINESS (Agenda Item 4)⁶
29. The Delegation of the European Community, while congratulating the Task Force for the completion of the work on the Draft Code of Practice on Good Animal Feeding, expressed the view that additional work was still needed in this area to safeguard the food chain and proposed a new mandate for the Task Force to address the following future work:
• Application of the HACCP system in the processing of feed and feed ingredients;
• Drawing up of a negative list;
• Development of detailed rules for a global rapid alert system for feeds; and
• Minimisation of the undesirable substances.
30. The Delegation indicated that feed–specific HACCP Guidelines would help to improve feed hygiene conditions and reduce barriers to international trade; that some feed ingredients were not acceptable in animal nutrition; that there was a need to develop a worldwide rapid alert system for risk to human health arising from feed; and, that there were only few Codex Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) and Extraneous Maximum Residue Limits (EMRLs) for pesticides and contaminants.
31. The Delegation of the United States of America, while recognising the importance of these issues, was of the view that it was necessary to carefully consider how these matters might be addressed in the Codex system and that issues such as the elaboration of MRLs/EMRLs and the Guidelines on HACCP could be developed by other Codex Committees.
32. Several delegations and observers supported the EC proposals for future work.
33. It was noted that the specific work on feed was needed because food safety should consider the entire feed chain as for example, some bacteria present in feed might have an adverse effect to the health of consumers; that many countries, especially in the Latin American Region, were relying on the work of this Task Force for the development/harmonization of their legislation on feed; and, that consideration should be given to the establishment of a permanent Codex body to address feed safety issues that affect consumer’s health.
34. The Task Force noted that the elaboration of MRLs/EMRLs for pesticides and contaminants for animal feeds depended upon the availability of data and that scientific advice should be requested for the elaboration of a negative list of substances. It also noted the decision of the 26^th Session of the Commission that all Committees and Task Forces would be reviewed together bearing in mind the objective of reducing the number of meetings while also keeping them short and focussed⁷. It was further noted that the 53^rd Session of the Executive Committee⁸ recommended that all Committees and Task Forces proposing new work should prepare a project document following the format proposed by the 19^th Session of the CCGP⁹.
35. The Task Force while noting that it completed the work on the Draft Code of Practice on Good Animal Feeding, agreed that further work in the area of animal feed was needed and that specific project proposals for new work should be prepared and submitted to the Commission for consideration. The Task Force agreed to refer the above discussion to the Commission with the understanding that it would provide clarification on how to proceed in this regard.
36. The Task Force noted the offer of the Government of Denmark to host a new Task Force depending on the decision of the Commission in this regard.

Summary Status of Work

¹ CX/AF 04/5/1.

² CX/AF 04/5/2.

³ CX/AF 04/5/3.

⁴ CL 2003/22-AF; Comments submitted by Argentina, Australia, Canada, Egypt, Japan, New Zealand, Paraguay, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, United States, EC, EuropaBio and FEFAC (CX/AF 04/5/4); Japan, Nigeria (CX/AF 04/5/4-Add.1), the Philippines (CRD2), India (CRD 3), Indonesia (CRD4) and Consumers International (CRD5).

⁵ ALINORM 03/41, para. 6

⁶ CRD 6 (Comments from the European Community).

⁷ ALINORM 03/41, para. 154.

⁸ ALINORM 04/27/3, para. 20.

⁹ See ALINORM 04/27/33, Appendix III: Proposed Amendment to the Procedures for the Elaboration of Codex Standards and Related Texts (Part 2 – Critical Review “Proposals to Undertake New Work or to Revise a Standard”).