PART II

REPORTS OF SESSIONS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ¹

5. The Commission received a report concerning three meetings of the Executive Committee held in October 1965 (Rome), June 1966 (Rome) and November 1966 (Rome). At these meetings the Executive Committee had dealt with the following main matters: the financing of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Program; proposals for the amendment of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission; definition of the terms used in the General Principles of the Codex Alimentarius and Guidelines for Codex Committees; proposal for more flexibility in the Procedure for the Elaboration of Standards; inclusion of coordinators in the Executive Committee; the meaning of acceptance of Codex Standards; the terms of reference of some Committees; arrangements for the Fourth Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and future work program and priorities. These subjects were discussed by the Commission under the relevant items of the Commission's agenda (see paragraphs 12 to 26 of this Report).
The Reports of the three meetings of the Executive Committee are reproduced below in extenso.

REPORT OF THE SEVENTH SESSION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Rome, 28 October 1965

1. Following the conclusion of the Third Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission the Executive Committee held its seventh meeting to discuss the implementation of certain items in the Report of the Third Session and to draw up a tentative schedule of meetings for 1966. The following officers who were elected at the Session were present:

Prof. Dr. M.J.L. Dols (Netherlands), Chairman
Mr. J.H.V. Davies (United Kingdom), Vice-Chairman
Mr. H.V. Dempsey (Canada), Vice-Chairman
Mr. G. Weill (France), Vice-Chairman

¹ During the adoption of the Report the Commission noted that, in accordance with Rule III.1, the period of office of Members of the Commission elected at the Third Session of the Commission to represent the six geographic locations in the Executive Committee would expire on 27 October 1967. The Executive Committee was requested to examine how Rule III.1 might be modified to avoid this type of situation arising when the Commission did not meet at regular annual intervals.

and the geographical representation was as follows: For Africa: Ghana (Mr. W.F.K. Christian), for Asia: India (Mr. Maharaj Krishan), for Australasia: Australia (Mr. I.H. Smith), for Europe: Poland (Mr. J. Serwatowski), for Latin America: Cuba (Dr. J. Alvarez), for North America: U.S.A. (Mr. Nathan Koenig). Mr. Kermode (FAO) and Dr. Agthe (WHO) acted as joint secretaries.

TIMETABLE OF MEETINGS

2. The Executive Committee concluded that there was a possibility of over 20 weeks of meetings of the Commission's subsidiary bodies. The Secretariat was requested to issue urgently a draft timetable for comment from the Chairmen of the subsidiary bodies and to finalize this and arrange for its issue in December 1965. As far as possible meetings on related commodities should be held close together to enable the same experts to participate in all such meetings with the minimum of travel. This would be particularly important in relation to the Committees dealing with fruit and vegetables and their related products. It was recommended that subject as distinct from commodity Codex Committees should only meet when a real need was demonstrated for such a meeting. In 1966 it was likely that all Committees would hold a meeting, but the Executive Committee would like to be in a position to recommend a definite timetable to the next session of the Commission in respect of 1967.

GUIDELINES FOR CODEX COMMITTEES

3. The Executive Committee requested the Secretariat to submit the draft paper on working procedures for Codex Committees to it before issue to governments for comment. The paper in the light of government comments would then be revised and sent to the Codex Committee on General Principles which was likely to hold its second meeting early October 1966.

DISTRIBUTION OF DOCUMENTS

4. The Executive Committee requested the Secretariat to arrange for confirmation of existing Codex Contact Points when governments were asked to indicate whether they wished to be Members of the Commission.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

5. Probably during the week beginning 13 June 1966 in Rome.

REPORT OF THE EIGHTH SESSION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Rome, 14–16 June 1966

INTRODUCTION

1. The Executive Committee held its Eighth Meeting at FAO Headquarters in Rome from 14 to 16 June 1966. The Committee was presided over by the Chairman of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, Prof. Dr. M.J.L. Dols, and in the presence of the three Vice-Chairmen, Mr. J.H.V. Davies (United Kingdom), Mr. H.V. Dempsey (Canada) and Mr. G. Weill (France). The representation of the geographical locations was as follows: for Africa, Mr. S.S. Okunor from Ghana; for Europe, Mr. J. Serwatowski from Poland; for Australasia, Mr. I.H. Smith from Australia; for North America, Mr. G.R. Grange from the U.S.A. Apologies for absence were received from India and Cuba with regard to representation of the Asian and Latin American continents.

ADOPTION OF AGENDA

2. The Committee adopted with a slight rearrangement of items the provisional agenda which was sent out to members and a supplementary agenda was distributed as a conference-room paper. The Committee agreed to include also a Canadian proposal on the agenda concerning working arrangements for Codex Committees.

ADOPTION OF MINUTES OF THE SEVENTH MEETING

3. The Committee adopted the minutes of its seventh meeting. The Secretariat of the Commission had, as requested, contacted all Member Nations and Associate Members of FAO and WHO concerning their membership in the Codex Alimentarius Commission. In sending out this communication, the Secretariat had also sought confirmation of existing or information about new Codex Contact Points. The system of Codex Contact Points for the distribution of documents was used to ensure direct and rapid contact with those authorities who were nominated by the Member Governments to undertake day to day work on technical aspects of the Commission's activities. The mailing of documents to Contact Points was in addition to the despatch of all communication of importance through official channels such as Ministries of Foreign Affairs and/or Ministries of Agriculture and/or Ministries of Health, as well as other authorities which were covered by the official FAO/WHO mailing lists.

DEFINITION OF TERMS TO BE USED IN THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS

4. At its Third Session the Codex Alimentarius Commission had recommended that a small working group under the Chairman of the Codex Committee on General Principles should prepare a working paper prior to the second meeting of that Committee. The Secretariat had sent out a draft paper to governments for comment on the definitions likely to be used in the Codex Alimentarius. A summary of replies which had been received from eight governments was placed before the Executive Committee. The Committee was also informed that the FAO Legislation Research Branch had in preparation the final version of a document on general principles of food legislation which would be ready for distribution to governments in July. The Committee discussed what type of definitions of terms would be required for use in the Codex Alimentarius and what would be the most practical and expeditious way to prepare these definitions so that they should be available to the Commission and its subsidiary bodies. The Committee thought that the definition of terms should relate first to those terms which were used in the General Principles of the Codex Alimentarius, secondly to other terms likely to be used in Codex Standards and, thirdly, to definitions which would assist in the development of national food legislations.

As to the working arrangements for the elaboration of the definitions of terms that were used in the General Principles of the Codex Alimentarius, the Executive Committee thought that it would not now be practicable to convene the working group proposed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and also that there was not sufficient business to justify a meeting of the Codex Committee on General Principles before the Fourth Session of the Codex Commission. Instead, the Executive Committee thought that it might itself constitute a drafting committee under the Chairman of the Codex Committee on General Principles. In this capacity, the Committee also proposed to consider the government comments on the draft guidelines (see para. 17 below) and to prepare a final version for the Fourth Session of the Commission. It would also consider the document prepared by the FAO Legislation Research Branch with a view to recommending how further work on general principles governing food legislation, general provisions and necessary definitions (see para. 51 of the Report of the Second Session of the Commission) should be undertaken. The Executive Committee proposed to meet in this capacity on 2nd and 3rd November 1966 and to hold its Ninth Meeting on 4th November.

PROPOSAL FOR MORE FLEXIBILITY IN THE PROCEDURE FOR THE ELABORATION OF CODEX STANDARDS

5. The representative of Australasia drew the Committee's attention to the urgent need for tolerances to be established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission for pesticides used in foods entering into international trade. In some instances the time it would take from the initial consideration of a particular pesticide residue to the establishment of an international tolerance could be so protracted that governments might in the meantime establish independently their own tolerances. In this connection, the Executive Committee discussed the relationship between the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues, WHO Expert Committee on Pesticide Residues and the FAO Working Party on Pesticide Residues. The Executive Committee thought that the Codex Alimentarius Commission should especially examine the need for the continuation of the present relationship between the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues and the FAO Working Party on Pesticide Residues. In the view of the Executive Committee broad statements of intent such as, for example, general hygiene requirements would probably not need to go through the Procedure for the Elaboration of Standards but might be accepted by the Commission as guides to it in the prosecution of its work. There were a number of other instances when it might be in the general interest to speed up the Procedure for the Elaboration of Standards. Urgent action might for instance be required in the field of food additives or the selection of suitable methods of analysis. Further, some commodity standards might prove entirely uncontroversial and could be sent out for adoption after, say, only one round of consultations with governments. The Executive Committee therefore decided to propose to the Codex Alimentarius Commission that an addition should be made to paragraph 2 of the Introduction to the Procedure for the Elaboration of Standards (Appendix IV of the Report of the Third Session of the Commission) in some such terms as the following: “It shall also be open to the Commission to authorize the omission of one or more of Steps 6, 7 and 8 of the Procedure in Parts 1 and 2 of this Appendix if it considers that the completion of the standard is a matter of exceptional urgency or if it considers that the standard is uncontroversial and that the standard has already proved to be generally agreeable to the Members of the Commission”.

AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION

6. The Committee was informed that at its next meeting in November it would have for consideration revised texts of those Rules of Procedure which required an amendment following the incorporation of the Codex Alimentarius Commission into the Regular Budgets of FAO and WHO. Rules XII.1 and 3 which concern the languages to be used for interpretation and documentation in the Codex Alimentarius Commission and its subsidiary bodies should be redrafted to specify the languages to be used for the Commission and its subsidiary bodies under Rule IX.1(a) and IX.1(b)(2). The present designation of the location of Australia in Rule III.1 should be changed to South-West Pacific. The Committee considered that if this amendment were accepted by the Commission at its next session, the report of the session should contain an indication that the countries constituting the geographical location were Australia and New Zealand. An amendment to Rule II.5 so as to enable delegates as well as representatives to be appointed as rapporteurs to Committees was also recommended by the Executive Committee.

MEETING ARRANGEMENTS FOR CODEX COMMITTEES

7. Experience had shown that the present scheduling of Codex Committee meetings, virtually all of which are held in Europe, makes difficult the fullest participation of experts from non-European countries. It was thought that an improvement in the present system would result from grouping meetings by subject matter as well as by geographic location. The Secretariat was requested to prepare a tentative schedule of meetings to be held in 1967 for consideration by the Executive Committee at its next meeting. The Executive Committee felt that meetings should as a rule continue to be held in the country accepting responsibility for a Committee.

INCLUSION OF COORDINATORS IN THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

8. The Committee examined the relevant parts of the Report of the Fourth Session of the Coordinating Committee for Europe. It noted that the majority of countries at that meeting had expressed a wish that Coordinators should become ex-officio members of the Executive Committee. The Committee also noted that a few countries had expressed the view that it would be preferable to permit Coordinators to participate in all the meetings of the Executive Committee without being formal members. The Committee decided not to make any recommendation to the Commission on this matter but to ask the Secretariat to prepare a paper for the Commission setting out the three possibilities: coordinators as ex officio members of the Executive Committee, coordinators present without being members, and coordinators not being present at all unless positively requested to attend by the Committee for the discussion of specific items. The paper should include a draft amendment to Rule III of the Rules of Procedure which could be adopted by the Commission should it agree to adopt the first possibility.

TRUST FUND 40

9. The Executive Committee had before it a statement of government and other national contributions to Trust Fund 40 in 1965. Owing to the late arrival of a number of important contributions the Trust Fund had not been totally exhausted and approximately $ 50,000 was available to be carried forward into the biennium 1966/67. The carrying forward of these monies had been approved by the FAO governing body and would be largely utilized to meet the increasing commitments of the Food Standards Program in respect of meeting facilities, documents, translations and publications.

BUDGET OF THE FOOD STANDARDS PROGRAM - 1966/67

10. The governing bodies of both FAO and WHO had approved the budget proposed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission for 1966/67 and in the case of the FAO conference, Member Governments of FAO had requested the Director-General to endevour to make available to the Program further assistance out of savings to be achieved in other parts of the FAO Regular Budget. The Executive Committee was advised that the Director-General of FAO had been able to make available to the Program for the biennium an additional $ 20,000. This addition, together with the savings of the Trust Fund in 1965 and the original budget approved by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, meant that there would be available to the Food Standards Program a total of approximately $ 273,000. The Executive Committee was informed that this might not prove to be sufficient to meet all the obligations of the Commission in respect of translations, documents and publications and that it might be necessary for further absorption of the costs of the Program to be met by FAO in other parts of its regular Budget. Adequate provision for travel by the Secretariat to attend the meetings of other bodies in fields related to the Codex Alimentarius should be made.

ARRANGEMENTS CONCERNING THE FINANCING OF THE FOOD STANDARDS PROGRAM IN 1968/69

11. The Executive Committee was informed that the Director-General of FAO had drawn up a draft budget proposal for the Food Standards Program in the biennium 1968/69. The proposal had been communicated to the Director-General of WHO for his observations. It was hoped that agreement could be reached shortly between the Directors-General and that firm proposals could go before the governing bodies of both organizations at the appropriate times. The Executive Committee would be kept informed of developments concerning the budget.

ARTICLE 9 OF THE STATUTES OF THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION

12. In accordance with Article 9 of the Statutes, the Commission had included in the budget for 1966/67 a provision of $ 10,000 to assist governments accepting the chairmanship of Codex Committees which were faced with exceptional expenditure in the running of these Committees. The Executive Committee was informed that the Secretariat had been obliged to take a number of decisions concerning the use of this money in the absence of specific guidance from the Codex Alimentarius Commission as to what would constitute exceptional expenditure. It was explained that some Codex Committees had been assisted in the translation of working documents and other Codex Committee meetings had been held outside the territory of the country accepting the chairmanship and therefore had received a certain amount of financial assistance. After a full discussion of the various issues involved in extending assistance to governments concerning these types of expenditure, the Executive Committee concluded that, in accordance with Article 9 of the Commission's Statutes, such assistance should only be made upon the recommendation of the Commission when Codex Committees were established or new work was initiated. The Executive Committee considered that it would only be necessary to make a modest provision to cover contingencies arising under this Statute and that in all probability a sum of $ 10,000 would suffice. The Executive Committee further considered that a re-examination of the Rules of Procedure concerning the use of such monies should be carried out in order to ensure that there was no inconsistency between the Commission's Rules of Procedure and Article 9 of the Statutes. The Secretariat was requested to submit to the next meeting of the Executive Committee any changes in the Rules of Procedure which might prove to be necessary to give effect to Article 9 of the Statutes.

CODEX COMMITTEE ON MEAT AND MEAT PRODUCTS

13. During the examination of the progress report on the work of the various Codex Committees the question was raised whether the elaboration of standards for cuts of meat based on the anatomical description of cuts of meat could be regarded as necessary and as being within the framework of the Codex Alimentarius. The Committee was informed that the Codex Committee on Meat and Meat Products had decided at its first session to follow up the work of the OECD concerning the description of carcasses and to draw up a compendium of exact anatomical definitions of cuts moving in international trade which could serve for a better understanding between buyers and sellers. Such descriptions could also assist in identifying exactly the contents of shipments and thereby facilitate enforcement of health and sanitary regulations in the importing country. The Executive Committee considered that it would be desirable to seek advice on the best way how to continue the work begun by the Codex Committee on Meat and Meat Products on cuts of meat. For this purpose it was concluded that the Report of the Codex Committee on Meat and Meat Products which would meet soon should be transmitted for comments to FAO's Commodities and Animal Production and Health Divisions, as well as to the Veterinary Public Health Unit of WHO. The Report should also be sent to the competent authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany, as the host country of the Codex Committee on Meat and Meat Products, and to the International Office of Epizootics inviting them to give an opinion on this matter. The Report of the Codex Committee on Meat and Meat Products and the comments received would then be examined by the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee also recognized that the Codex Committee on Meat and Meat Products had been authorized by the Commission to set up sub-committees if it so desired but considered that there was a case for much of the work at present allocated to sub-committees to be undertaken by the main Committee. It therefore requested the Secretariat to suggest to the Committee on Meat and Meat Products that it would be advisable for the work on transport and storage, lamb and mutton and additives to be dealt with by the Committee itself, and for the sub-committees on these subjects to be dissolved.

ACCEPTANCE OF CODEX STANDARDS

14. The Executive Committee considered an enquiry concerning the meaning of acceptance of Codex standards. The Committee noted that the provisions on this question were set out in paragraph 4 of the General Principles of the Codex Alimentarius. If a country accepted a standard at Step 9 of the Procedure, it undertook the obligations set out in that paragraph in accordance with the method of acceptance - entire, with declaration of more stringent requirements or target - it adopted. The conditions accepted by the country would apply equally to all foods to which the standards apply, sold within its territorial jurisdiction, whether imported or home produced. No statement by a government at any earlier step of the Procedure that it approved the standard or found it acceptable or had no comments on it was in any way a commitment by that government to give its formal acceptance to that standard at Step 9. Formal acceptance of standards at Step 9 would be entirely a matter for the government of each Member Country. The Committee recognized that to accept Codex standards in their entirely would often involve governments in changes in their domestic laws or regulations and that these could only be achieved over a period of time. The need for a reasonable time interval would have to be taken into account in dealing with the formal acceptance of standards.

NON-COMPLIANCE WITH QUALITY CRITERIA

15. The Committee considered the question of products which were fit for human consumption but which did not comply with quality criteria contained in Codex standards. The Committee thought that this matter should be considered in the first instance by the Codex Committees concerned. If necessary, the Executive Committee would consider at a later stage what general guidance, if any, was required.

DRAFT PROVISIONAL AGENDA FOR THE FOURTH SESSION OF THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION

16. The Committee examined the proposed Draft Provisional Agenda prepared by the Secretariat for the Fourth Session of the Commission. It modified the Agenda and re-arranged the subjects in the light of the discussion of the Committee. In order to expedite the work of the Commission, the Executive Committee considered that it would be desirable that a separate document be assembled by the Secretariat dealing with the important issues which had arisen since the last session of the Commission. This document should also include those points of the reports of Codex Committees and other affiliated bodies which were specifically referred to the Commission, as well as other matters which required a decision of or were of particular interest to the Commission. The Committee also requested that the Draft Provisional Agenda should be accompanied by brief notes indicating the matters to be discussed under the separate items of the agenda. With regard to the Draft Provisional Standard for Honey, which had reached Step 7 of the Procedure for the Elaboration of Codex Standards, a full explanation of the present position should be provided to assist Member Countries to decide whether the standard should be completed as a regional or as a world-wide standard.

DRAFT GUIDELINES FOR CODEX COMMITTEES

17. The Executive Committee had a full discussion on the paper prepared by the Secretariat. It considered the Guidelines of great importance to the progress of work of Codex Committees and thought that they should be incorporated in the proposed handbook which would include the Statutes, the Rules of Procedure and General Principles of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. In the view of the Committee, participation at Codex Committees would be widened and difficulties of an administrative nature eliminated if invitations to all meetings of the subsidiary bodies of the Codex Alimentarius Commission were issued by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO after consultation with the Member Country responsible for the Committee. An amendment to Rule IX.6(b) and (c) of the Rules of Procedure would be required. The Committee decided that the draft guidelines should be revised in the light of the discussions of the Committee and sent to governments for comment as soon as possible with a closing date for comments sufficiently early to allow them to be considered by the Executive Committee sitting as a drafting committee on 2nd November 1966 (see paragraph 4).

FUTURE WORK PROGRAM AND PRIORITIES

18. The Executive Committee discussed a paper prepared by the Secretariat and considered priorities for future work. It concluded that the importance of international trade in the commodity concerned, public health risks involved and aspects of consumer protection should be the main criteria in considering new work, and that no new foods be considered for standardization in the next year unless urgent and pressing need is established.

Salt - It was thought that the elaboration of standards for salt presented some special problems which should be examined in a paper by the Secretariat. This paper should be submitted to the Executive Committee in the course of 1967.

Flour - The Executive Committee was of the opinion that at the present time work on flour and cereal products should not be undertaken. The activities in this field of international organizations such as ISO and the International Cereal Chemists Association would be followed with interest.

Eggs - The Executive Committee noted that the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene is working on the hygienic aspects of egg products which are of prime importance for this commodity. The International Egg Commission which has liaison status with FAO and has contacts with the interested technical and economic sections of FAO, is reported to be working on the standardization of egg products and will report to the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

Stimulant beverages and spices and condiments - It was agreed that no work should be undertaken at the present time and that close cooperation should be maintained with ISO which was now developing specifications for these products.

Soft drinks - With respect to soft drinks, the concentrate is the item which appears in international trade. These concentrates frequently contain substances considered as food additives. It was recommended that governments interested in these concentrates should submit a request for the consideration of the additives therein to the Chairman of the Codex Committee on Food Additives. This should be done in accordance with the procedure submitted in the Report of the Third Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (see paragraph 23).

Alcoholic beverages - Work on this topic should not proceed at the present time.

Broths and soups - A report is to be received from the International Federation of Soup Manufacturers through the Coordinating Committee for Europe at the next session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The Commission would then decide on further work on this topic. The question was raised as to the labelling requirements of the main ingredient in soups. For example, in the case of chicken soup the amount of chicken would need to be specified in order to justify the label “chicken” in dry and canned soups. It was suggested that the FAO Legislation Research Branch compile relevant information on this topic.

Contaminants and other toxic material - The Executive Committee agreed that responsibility for contaminants in general should be assigned to the Codex Committee on Food Additives, particularly where the work involved consideration of the toxicity of a chemical substance. As regards filth, this should continue to be the responsibility of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene. Contamination from pesticide residues continues to be assigned to the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues.

Vitamins and minerals - The Executive Committee considered that it would be very difficult to lay down general provisions on vitamins which would be applicable to all countries and doubted if such provisions would serve any practical purpose. In most cases it might be best to treat vitamins as optional ingredients and to give an indication of national requirements in the commodity standard concerned. Where appropriate, on problems of a general nature concerning vitamins and minerals reference could be made to FAO's Nutrition Division and to the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Group on Nutrition.

DATE AND PLACE OF NEXT SESSION

19. The Executive Committee will hold its ninth session on 4 November 1966 at FAO, Rome. On 2 and 3 November it will convene as a drafting committee under the Chairman of the Codex Committee on General Principles.

REPORT OF THE NINTH SESSION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Rome, 4 November 1966

INTRODUCTION

1. The Executive Committee held its Ninth Session at FAO Headquarters in Rome on 4 November 1966. The Committee was presided over by the Chairman of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, Prof. Dr. M.J.L. Dols, and in the presence of the three Vice-Chairmen, Mr. J.H.V. Davies (United Kingdom), Mr. H.V. Dempsey (Canada) and Mr. G. Weill (France). The representation of the geographical locations was as follows: for Europe, Mr. J. Serwatowski from Poland; for the South-West Pacific, Mr. I.H. Smith from Australia; for North America, Mr. G.R. Grange from the U.S.A.; for Latin America, Mr. D. Cantera from Cuba.

AMENDMENTS TO THE MINUTES OF THE EIGHTH SESSION

2. The following amendments were made to the minutes of the Eighth Session. Paragraph 10, line 15: “… to be met by FAO or WHO in other parts …”. Paragraph 13, 12 lines from the top of page 6: “… to suggest to the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and to the Committee …”. Paragraph 17, add at the end: “The Executive Committee agreed to seek the advice of the Committee on Food Labelling as well as of governments as to whether or not item (g) of paragraph 15 of the Report of the First Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (ALINORM 63/12) should be included in the draft guidelines for Codex Commodity Committees.” Paragraph 18, heading ‘Soft Drinks’, line 3: “It was noted that governments interested in these concentrates could submit …”.

STATUTES AND RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION

3. The Executive Committee took note of the Revised Statutes of the Commission as adopted by the Forty-Seventh Session of the FAO Council. The Executive Committee, after briefly reviewing the proposed amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Commission, recommended that a Working Party be established during the Commission's Fourth Session to study the proposed amendments and make recommendations to the Commission for the adoption of the Revised Rules. The Executive Committee considered that the Working Party should have a small but representative number of participants, and recommended a similar composition to that of the Working Party which considered the Rules of Procedure and Related Matters during the Second Session of the Commission. The Working Party would have before it document ALINORM 66/3(3).

BUDGET FOR 1968/69 AND PROGRAM OF WORK

4. The Executive Committee considered document ALINORM 66/5(1) containing information regarding the proposed provisions to be included in the draft budgets of FAO and WHO for approval by the governing bodies of the two organizations. The total proposed income of the Program for 1968 was $ 192,000, apportioned between the two Organizations as follows: FAO - $ 150,000, WHO - $ 42,000. The Executive Committee compared these provisions with the income available to the Program in the years 1966 and 1967 and noted that there would be an overall increase of $ 55,000. The Executive Committee considered that in general the budget provision was likely to be inadequate to meet the growth of the Program, should its present momentum be maintained. This view had also been expressed by the Program Committee of FAO. The Executive Committee recommended that in order that the Program might continue with reasonable efficiency within the limits of the budget a certain slowing down of activities would be necessary and a much more critical appraisal of priorities would be required from the Commission. The Executive Committee considered that the Program could be assisted if governments accepting responsibility for the chairmanship of Codex Committees were to undertake more of the work of translation and distribution of the working documents and reports of Codex Committees. The Executive Committee further considered that there should be a reduction in the number of meetings per annum of the subsidiary bodies of the Commission. In the light of the likely state of preparedness of work and the amount of time required to ensure the preparation of appropriate working documents for meetings, it was recommended that the following Committees should postpone their proposed meetings in 1967 until later: Dietetic Foods, Natural Mineral Waters, Meat and Meat Products, Edible Ices and Coordinating Committee. The Executive Committee also proposed that the Secretariat should consult with the Economic Commission for Europe regarding the possibility of postponing the next meeting of Quick Frozen Foods until 1968. The Executive Committee further recommended that the next session of the Committee of Government Experts on the Code of Principles concerning Milk and Milk Products, the Coordinating Committee for Europe and the Codex Alimentarius Commission should be held in January 1968. The Executive Committee drew up a proposed timetable of meetings for consideration by the Commission (see Appendix A to this Report). The Executive Committee emphasized that in putting forward this proposed timetable it had taken fully into account the problems of travel and work load falling on government delegates. It further considered that this timetable, together with the postponement of the above-mentioned meetings, would afford opportunity for the preparation of sound draft standards for consideration by Committees.

REPORT OF THE AD HOC WORKING GROUP OF THE CODEX COMMITTEE ON GENERAL PRINCIPLES

5. The Executive Committee accepted the Report of the ad hoc Working Group and recommended to the Commission acceptance of the Guidelines (ALINORM 66/3(2)) and definitions in the Report (ALINORM 66/9).

ACCEPTANCE OF CODEX STANDARDS

6. Arising out of a discussion of the problem of food stuffs which were fit for human consumption, but substandard in respect of quality criteria, the Executive Committee briefly considered the meaning of acceptance of Codex Standards as contained in the General Principles of the Codex Alimentarius. After an exchange among the members of the Executive Committee it was decided that some clarification of this part of the General Principles was required. The Executive Committee therefore recommended that this matter should also be considered by the proposed Working Party on Rules of Procedure and Related Matters which would meet during the Commission's Session.

EXTENT TO WHICH CODEX STANDARDS SHOULD INCLUDE PROVISIONS RELATING TO PROCESSING

7. The Executive Committee discussed this subject which had been raised by the Federal Republic of Germany. In principle, the Executive Committee concluded that the requirements as to processing should not be included in Codex Standards unless there was a specific reason for doing so. The Executive Committee thought that Codex Committees should judge this question in accordance with the particular circumstances of the food under consideration and include only such provisions relating to processing as were essential for the standard.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

8. The Committee agreed that terms of reference for the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene comparable to those developed for other general subject Codex Committees should be established. The Committee recommended that the following terms of reference be submitted to the Commission:

1. to draft basic provisions on food hygiene applicable to all food;

2. (i) to consider, amend if necessary, and ratify provisions on hygiene prepared by Codex Commodity Committees and contained in Codex Commodity standards;
          or,
   (ii) to draft provisions on hygiene in respect of a particular food coming within the terms of reference of a Codex Commodity Committee at the request of that Committee;

3. to draft, where necessary, provisions on hygiene in respect of any food not assigned to any Codex Commodity Committee;

4. to consider specific hygiene problems assigned to it by the Commission.

The Executive Committee agreed that the terms of reference adopted by the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling at its second meeting needed some slight revision. These will be introduced at the time the Commission considers the Report of this Committee.

APPENDIX A

JOINT FAO/WHO FOOD STANDARDS PROGRAM CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION
Fourth Session, Rome, 7–14 November 1966

PROVISIONAL TIMETABLE FOR MEETINGS UP TO AND INCLUDING THE FIFTH SESSION OF THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION