The Commission took note of a paper on General Food Labelling Provisions (ALINORM 64/6(1)) prepared by the Legislation Research Branch, FAO. The Secretariat reported that since the paper had been prepared ten more countries had provided information. The Commission decided that the paper should be revised to take account of the further information from countries and be circulated as soon as possible to all Member Governments. In congratulating the Legislation Research Branch on the paper, the Commission expressed the wish that, when the revision was completed, the paper be given the widest practicable circulation. The Commission further decided that when the revised document had been prepared, it should be referred to a Codex Committee on Labelling established for the purpose of studying food labelling.
The Commission accepted with satisfaction an offer of the Canadian delegation that Canada would take responsibility for preparatory work on food labelling. The Commission therefore under Rule IX.1(b)1 of the Rules of Procedure established a Codex Committee on Food Labelling under the Chairmanship of the Government of Canada with the following terms of reference:
To draft provisions on labelling applicable to all foods.
To draft provisions on labelling concerning products given priority by the Commission, namely products referred to specific Codex Committees for the elaboration of standards.
To study specific labelling problems assigned to it by the Commission.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
After discussing Appendices E.1 and E.2 of the Report of the First Session of the Joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission on General Principles the Commission concluded that the section on general principles of the ‘Codex’ should be divided into three parts. The first part of the section on general principles of the Codex should consist of a statement of the purpose and scope of the Codex and the nature and type of Standards to be included, accompanied by exact definitions, in order to remove any misunderstanding in regard to terminology. The Commission decided that the Secretariat should prepare a draft paper based on the relevant sections of the Report of the Joint FAO/WHO Conference on Food Standards (ALINORM 62/8) and the Report of the First Session of the Joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission (ALINORM 63/12). The Commission also had before it a paper prepared by the Delegate of France (see ALINORM 64/LIM.4 in Appendix D to this Report). The Commission expressed its appreciation for this paper and recommended that the Secretariat in preparing the draft outlined above should include in the appropriate places the suggestions contained in ALINORM 64/LIM.4. The draft would then be circulated to Governments for comment. The comments would in turn be compiled by the Secretariat and referred to a Codex Committee on General Principles.
The second part of the section on general principles of the Codex should consist of the rules of procedure as amended from time to time.
The third part of the section on general principles of the Codex should consist of general principles governing food legislation, general provisions and necessary definitions. The Commission decided that the Secretariat should circulate a questionnaire to Member Governments as soon as possible on their legislation on general principles, general provisions and necessary definitions. The questionnaire should include sections on injuriousness to health, spoilage, adulteration, unfitness for human consumption, misdescription and misleading methods of sale, and also on the application of general principles in the legislation of the country concerned. The Commission decided that when this information had been received and collated it should be referred to a Codex Committee established on General Principles under Rule IX.1(b)1.
The Commission noted with satisfaction the statement of the Delegate of France that he would refer to his Government the suggestion made by the Commission that France should undertake responsibility under Rule IX.1(b)1 for the proposed Codex Committee on General Principles and that the Government of France would in due course advise the Directors-General of FAO and WHO of its decision. The Commission further decided that Appendices E.1 and E.2 of ALINORM 63/12 and the comments made by Member Governments thereon should be referred to the Codex Committee on General Principles for consideration.
METHODS OF ANALYSIS
The Commission received a statement from the Observer of Austria regarding the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis. It was pointed out that, contrary to paragraph 27 of the Report of the First Session of the Joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission, the Government of Austria had not undertaken to accept responsibility for this Codex Committee. The Commission was further advised that the Government of Austria was not in a position to accept responsibility for a Codex Committee on this subject.
The Commission discussed the need to establish a Codex Committee under Rule IX.1(b)1 to undertake work on methods of analysis on a worldwide basis as proposed in paragraph 27 of the Report of the First Session of the Joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission. The Commission accepted with appreciation an offer by the Delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany, subject to official confirmation by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, to be responsible for this Codex Committee.* The Commission also accepted an offer by the International Commission of Agricultural Industries (CIIA) to make available to the Commission work that CIIA has done in connection with methods of analysis. The Commission recommended that the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis should take fully into account the information to be made available by CIIA and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) together with the work of other organizations in this field.
The Commission reaffirmed the following principles for the guidance of the Codex Committee as previously outlined in paragraph 27 of the Report of the First Session:
“The Expert Committee draws up a list of priorities in the light of the products for which Codex Standards are in preparation.
It determines in each case the best means of preparing each method of analysis required and refers the work to the appropriate outside organization or, where no such body is available, to research laboratories in any country member of the Commission.
In some cases, the Expert Committee may find that a method is already so well established and verified that it may be referred to the Commission for publication in the Codex without further study.
Methods selected should have been the object of extensive tests in several laboratories and the results given statistical treatment. Preference should be given to those already published or ready for publication by the originating body.
Methods should be such as to be capable of use in laboratories equipped with usual modern apparatus.
More than one method of analysis may be selected for the same test.
Where applicable, methods of analysis should conform to the “Guide on the form for methods of chemical analysis” set out in ISO Recommendation R.78 - 1958.
The Expert Committee should organize its work in such a manner as to keep under constant review all methods of analysis published in the Code.
The Expert Committee should maintain the closest possible relations with all interested organizations working on methods of analysis.
The Expert Committee should adopt wherever it may find appropriate the type of procedures now followed by the Committee of Government Experts on the Code of Principles concerning Milk and Milk Products (see Report of the Committee's 6th Session, Rome, June 1963, paras. 10–12).
The Expert Committee should recommend in each case whether the method of analysis should be published in the Codex in full or merely by bibliographic reference.
Since the elaboration of methods of analysis will take considerable time, the Codex should, as an interim measure, include references to existing practicable methods in each standard of composition pending the elaboration and/or revision of definitive methods.”
