13. The Commission had before it for consideration the recommendations made by the Working Party on the Rules of Procedure and Related Matters concerning certain amendments which were required to be made to the Rules of Procedure as a consequence of the incorporation of the FAO/WHO Food Standards Program in the Regular Budgets of FAO and WHO. The Working Party had also considered a number of other amendments proposed by the Executive Committee and recommended other minor revisions to ensure consistency in the use of terminology throughout the Rules of Procedure. During the discussion of the proposed amendment to Rule IX.6, the delegation of Switzerland stated that it would prefer to retain this Rule unchanged so that the Chairmen of subsidiary bodies would be responsible for the convening of meetings. The Commission requested that the Secretariat, in the light of the revised text of Rule XI.1, should endeavour to supply as much information as possible concerning expenditure relating to the Food Standards Program for the relevant financial period immediately preceding any session of the Commission when budgetary proposals for the future activities would be considered by the Commission. The Secretariat undertook to have this proposal examined by the appropriate financial authorities in FAO and WHO and would try to have satisfactory arrangements made so that this information could be available to the Commission. The Commission examined in detail the implications for Members responsible for the chairmanship of Codex Committees in respect of the proposed amendment to Rule XII.3 concerning the increase in the number of working languages of the Commission to be used by these subsidiary bodies. The delegations of Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway stated that in their opinion it was not necessary for the number of working languages to be increased from one to two by an amendment to the Rules of Procedure. In the opinion of these delegations most host governments, in practice, would endeavour to meet the reasonable requirements of participants attending meetings of Codex Committees. The Commission was of the opinion that if the Guidelines for Codex Committees were observed by participants and host governments, then the operation of the revised Rule XII.3 should not present any practical difficulties. In particular, the Commission stressed the need for governments intending to participate in Codex Committees to observe section 7(b) of the Guidelines concerning replies to invitations. The complete Rules of Procedure of the Commission are contained in Appendix II to this Report. The amended Rules of Procedure adopted by the Commission during the Fourth Session are given below. These Rules will be placed before the Directors-General of FAO and WHO for their approval. The official and working languages of the Commission were under consideration by the Directors-General and a report on this subject would be made to the Commission at its next session. The Commission requested that this report should also include the question of languages for Coordinating Committees. (The Statutes of the Codex Alimentarius Commission as adopted by the Forty-Seventh Session of the FAO Council are contained in Appendix I to this Report.)
Rule II Officers
1. The Commission shall elect a Chairman and three Vice-Chairmen from among the representatives, alternates and advisers (hereinafter referred to as “delegates”) of the Members of the Commission; it being understood that no delegate shall be eligible without the concurrence of the head of his delegation. They shall be elected at each session and shall hold office from the end of the session at which they were elected until the end of the following session. The Chairman and Vice-Chairmen shall be eligible for re-election but after having served two consecutive terms shall be ineligible to hold such office for the next succeeding term.
4. (a) The Commission may appoint a Coordinator from among the delegates of the Members of the Commission, for any region or for any group of countries specifically enumerated by the Commission, whenever it may find, on the basis of a proposal of a majority of the countries which constitute the region or group, that work for the Codex Alimentarius in the countries concerned so requires.
5. The Commission may appoint one or more Rapporteurs from among the delegates of the Members of the Commission.
6. The Directors-General of FAO and WHO shall be requested to appoint from the staffs of the Organizations a Secretary of the Commission and such other officials, likewise responsible to them, as may be necessary to assist the officers and the Secretary in performing all duties that the work of the Commission may require.
Rule III Executive Committee
1. The Executive Committee shall consist of the Chairman and Vice-Chairmen of the Commission together with six further Members, elected by the Commission from among the Members of the Commission, one each coming from the following goegraphic locations: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, South-West Pacific; it being understood that not more than one delegate from any one country shall be a member of the Executive Committee. Elected Members shall hold office for two years and shall be eligible for re-election, but after having served two successive terms shall be ineligible to hold such office for the next succeeding term.
Rule IV Sessions of the Commission
2. Sessions of the Commission shall be convened and the place of meeting shall be determined by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO after consultation, where appropriate, with the authorities of the host country.
3. Notice of the date and place of each session of the Commission shall be communicated to all Members of the Commission at least two months before the session.
Rule IX Subsidiary bodies
6. Sessions of subsidiary bodies shall be convened by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO:
in the case of bodies established under Rule IX.1(a), in consultation with the Chairman of the Commission;
in the case of bodies established under Rule IX.1(b)(1) (Codex Committees), in consultation with the chairman of the respective Codex Committee and also, in the case of Codex Committees for the preparation of draft standards for a given region or group of countries, with the coordinator, if a coordinator has been appointed for the region or group of countries concerned;
in the case of bodies established under Rule IX.1(b)(2) (Coordinating Committees), in consultation with the chairman of the Coordinating Committee.
7. The Directors-General of FAO and WHO shall determine the place of meeting of bodies established under Rule IX.1(a) and Rule IX.1(b)(2) after consultation, where appropriate, with the host country concerned and, in the case of bodies established under Rule IX.1(b)(2), after consultation with the coordinator for the region or group of countries concerned, if any, or with the chairman of the Coordinating Committee.
8. Notice of the date and place of each session of bodies established under Rule IX.1(a) shall be communicated to all Members of the Commission at least two months before the session.
9. The establishment of subsidiary bodies under Rule IX.1(a) and Rule IX.1(b)(2) shall be subject to the availability of the necessary funds, as shall the establishment of subsidiary bodies under Rule IX.1(b)(1) when any of their expenses are proposed to be recognized as operating expenses within the budget of the Commission in accordance with Article 10 of the Statutes of the Commission. Before taking any decision involving expenditure in connection with the establishment of such subsidiary bodies, the Commission shall have before it a report from the Director-General of FAO and/or WHO, as appropriate, on the administrative and financial implications thereof.
10. The Members who shall be responsible for appointing chairmen of subsidiary bodies established under Rule IX.1(b)(1) shall be designated at each session by the Commission, except where otherwise provided in these Rules, and shall be eligible for re-designation. All other officers of subsidiary bodies shall be elected by the body concerned and shall be eligible for re-election.
11. The Rules of Procedure of the Commission shall apply mutatis mutandis to its subsidiary bodies.
Rule XI Budget and Expenses
1. The Directors-General of FAO and WHO shall prepare for consideration by the Commission at its regular sessions an estimate of expenditure based on the proposed program of work of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies, together with information concerning expenditure for the previous financial period. This estimate, with such modifications as may be considered appropriate by the Directors-General in the light of recommendations made by the Commission, shall subsequently be incorporated in the Regular Budgets of the two Organizations for approval by the appropriate governing bodies.
2. The estimate of expenditure shall make provisions for the operating expenses of the Commission and the subsidiary bodies of the Commission established under Rule IX.1(a) and IX.1(b)(2) and for the expenses relating to staff assigned to the Program and other expenditures incurred in connection with the servicing of the latter.
3. The operating costs of subsidiary bodies established under Rule IX.1 (b)(1) (Codex Committees) shall be borne by each Member accepting chairmanship of such a body. The estimate of expenditure may include a provision for such costs involved in preparatory work as may be recognized as operating expenses of the Commission in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 of the Statutes of the Commission.
4. Expenses incurred in connection with attendance at sessions of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies and travels of delegations of the Members of the Commission and of the observers referred to in Rule VII, shall be borne by the governments or organizations concerned. Should experts be invited by the Director-General of FAO and WHO to attend session of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies in their individual capacity, their expenses shall be borne out of the regular budgetary funds available for the work of the Commission.
Rule XII Languages
3. Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Rule, the working languages of subsidiary bodies set up under Rule IX.1(b) shall include at least two of the working languages of the Commission.
Rule XIII Amendments and Suspension of Rules
2. The Rules of the Commission, other than Rule I, Rule II.1, 2, 3 and 6, Rule III, Rule IV.2 and 6, Rule V.1, 4 and 6, Rule VI.1, 2 and 3, Rule VII, Rule VIII.3 and 4, Rule IX.5, 7 and 9, Rule XI, Rule XIII and Rule XIV, may be suspended by the Commission by a two thirds majority of the votes cast, provided that 24 hours' notice of the proposal for suspension has been given. Such notice may be waived if no representative of the Members of the Commission objects.
Rule XIV Entry into force
1. In accordance with Article 8 of the Statutes of the Commission, these Rules of Procedure shall come into force upon approval by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO, subject to such confirmation as may be prescribed by the procedure of the two Organizations. Pending the coming into force of these Rules, they shall apply provisionally.
14. At its Third Session, the Codex Alimentarius Commission had considered a proposal made by the delegates of Austria and Switzerland that a second seat be established for Europe in the Executive Committee of the Commission. The delegates of Austria and Switzerland undertook to prepare a report on this subject for comment by governments. The Commission recommended that this report together with governments' comments should be placed before the next meeting of the Executive Committee. It was further suggested that the Executive Committee should also consider the possibility of coordinators for regions becoming ex officio members of the Executive Committee.
15. In accordance with the recommendations of the Commission at its Third Session, the delegates of Austria and Switzerland had submitted a report to the Third Session of the Coordinating Committee for Europe proposing that Europe should have an additional seat in the Executive Committee of the Commission. The Coordinating Committee for Europe considered this proposal and a majority of delegates attending the session had recommended that coordinators appointed for the Commission's regions should be ex officio members of the Executive Committee. The Austrian and Swiss delegates attending the session indicated their agreement to this alternative recommendation and formally withdrew their original proposal.
16. The Executive Committee at its Eighth Meeting considered the recommendation of the majority of countries attending the Third Session of the Coordinating Committee for Europe, but decided not to make any recommendation to the Commission on this subject and requested the Secretariat to prepare a paper for the Fourth Session of the Commission recording the above-mentioned matters and a suitable draft amendment to the Rules of Procedure for consideration by the Commission should the Commission decide to include coordinators for regions as ex officio members of the Executive Committee.
17. After a full discussion of the proposal made by the Coordinating Committee and other alternative possibilities outlined in the paper (ALINORM 66/3(6)) prepared by the Secretariat at the request of the Executive Committee, the Commission decided not to amend the Rules of Procedure to include coordinators for regions as ex officio members of the Executive Committee. The Commission recommended however that coordinators for regions should be permitted to attend meetings of the Executive Committee.
