7. The Commission had before it a progress report from the Secretariat on the replies to date received from Member Nations and Associate Members of FAO and WHO concerning membership of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The Commission noted that the current position was as follows:
(a) Member Nations of FAO and/or WHO which had formally declared their intention to be considered Members of the Codex Alimentarius Commission:
Status - 1 November 1966
European Region
North America
Latin America
Africa
South-West Pacific Region
Asia
(b) Member Nations of FAO and/or WHO which have participated in the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and whose formal declaration of membership is either in course of despatch or expected to be received soon:
Status - 1 November 1966
European Region
Latin America
Africa
Asia
(c) Member Nations of FAO and/or WHO which at the present time do not wish to be considered Members of the Codex Alimentarius Commission:
Status - 1 November 1966
Africa
Asia
8. In view of the importance of the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the Commission expressed the hope that countries not yet participating in its work would do so in the near future. In this connection it was noted that a large number of replies were still outstanding to the circular state letter which had been sent by the Directors-General to all Member Countries of FAO and WHO, requesting them to advise whether they wished to be considered as Members of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The Secretariat was requested to take follow-up action concerning those countries which had not yet indicated their position and to draw their attention to the fact that participation in this work and membership of the Commission did not involve them in any financial contribution additional to that which they were already making to the Regular Budgets of FAO and/or WHO.
9. The Commission further considered that it would be of assistance to countries in deciding whether to become Members of the Commission if the following aspects and advantages of participation in the work of the Commission which had been outlined in a paper presented to the Commission were brought to their attention:
All countries, regardless of their stage of development, had an important interest in the establishment of international food standards. These standards would be published in a Codex Alimentarius, and it was hoped that this would be accepted by the greatest possible number of governments. For industrialized countries exporting manufactured foods, the merit of such a Codex Alimentarius would consist in the possibility of freer movement of foods from country to country and, as regards non-economic trade restrictions, an opportunity to compete under equal terms in world markets. For developing countries producing primary commodities and raw material, the interest of adopting international food standards could be threefold: to help them in forming their own national food legislation; to protect them from becoming markets for imports of inferior manufactured food; and to assist them to promote their export trade in foodstuffs.
The distinction between being a Member of the Codex Alimentarius Commission or merely participating in its work in an observer capacity need not significantly affect the value to be derived from the Commission's activities. Eligible nations which chose Observer rather than Member status could, upon request to the Director-General of FAO or WHO, attend sessions of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and of its subsidiary bodies, participate in discussions and submit memoranda. Furthermore, and most importantly, under the formal procedure which the Commission had worked out to ensure that governments should be able to state their position in connection with a standard, all governments regardless of their status in the Commission received the working documentation relating to the standard concerned and were entitled to have their comments and observations considered.
10. In spite of the foregoing arrangements the Commission stressed the importance for eligible nations to decide upon the status they wished to have in the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Membership afforded certain privileges in procedural matters, and through these, Member Countries had equal opportunity to influence the course of the work of the Commission. Membership privileges relate to - (a) membership of the subsidiary bodies of the Commission, (b) voting, and (c) elections and the holding of office. As regards (a), only Members of the Commission could become members of Codex Committees, Coordinating Committees, and Committees of the whole, such as the Committee of Government Experts on the Code of Principles concerning Milk and Milk Products. An eligible country which participated in the Commission's work only in an observer capacity could only participate in the subsidiary bodies of the Commission in the same capacity. With regard to voting mentioned in (b) above, membership status has the entitlement of one vote, observer status none. Voting might take place on important matters such as the adoption of a standard, the elaboration of standards on a regional basis, the amendment or suspension of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission, the moving of resolutions and the inclusion of specific items in the agenda of a session. Finally, as to (c) above, membership status was required in order to enable the national of an eligible nation to hold office in the Commission or its subsidiary bodies or to be eligible to represent one of the six geographical locations of the world in the Executive Committee of the Commission - Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and South-West Pacific.
