22. The Commission had before it for consideration document “Guidelines for Codex Committees” (ALINORM 66/3(2)), which had been prepared as a final draft for submission to the Commission by an ad hoc Working Group of the Codex Committee on General Principles and accepted by the Executive Committee. After an examination of and slight revision to the Guidelines, the Commission accepted them for inclusion in the Procedural Handbook of the Codex Alimentarius. The amendments made by the Commission to the Guidelines were as follows: paragraph 3, line 9 - delete “may” and insert “should also be invited”; paragraph 10(c) - after “delegations”, insert “and delegations from observer countries” who wish, etc. The Guidelines for Codex Committees as accepted by the Commission are set out below in extenso.
GUIDELINES FOR CODEX COMMITTEES
INTRODUCTION
1. By virtue of Article 6 of the Statutes of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and Rule IX.1(b)(1) of its Rules of Procedure, the Commission has established a number of Codex Committees to prepare standards in accordance with the Procedure for the Elaboration of Codex Standards. The Commission has specified for each Codex Committee whether the standards are to be world-wide or for a given region. The Rules of Procedure of the Commission shall apply mutatis mutandis to Codex Committees.
COMPOSITION OF CODEX COMMITTEES
Membership
2. Membership of Codex Committees elaborating world-wide standards is open to Members of the Commission who have notified the Director-General of FAO or WHO of their desire to be considered as members thereof or to selected members designated by the Commission. Membership of Codex Committees established to elaborate regional or group of countries standards is open only to Members of the Commission belonging to the region or group of countries concerned.
Observers
3. Any other Member of the Commission or any Member or Associate Member of FAO or WHO which has not become a Member of the Commission may participate as an observer at any Codex Committee if it has notified the Director-General of FAO or WHO of its wish to do so. Such countries may participate fully in the discussions of the Committee and shall be provided with the same opportunities as other Members to express their point of view (including the submission of memoranda), but without the right to vote or to move motions either of substance or of procedure. International organizations which have formal relations with either FAO or WHO should also be invited to attend in an observer capacity sessions of those Codex Committees which are of interest to them.
ORGANIZATION AND DUTIES
Chairmanship
4. The Codex Alimentarius Commission will designate a Member Country of the Commission, which has indicated its willingness to accept financial and all other responsibility, as having responsibility for appointing a chairman of the Committee. The Member Country concerned is responsible for appointing the chairman of the Committee from among its own nationals. Should this person for any reason be unable to take the chair, the Member Country concerned shall designate another person to perform the functions of the chairman for as long as the chairman is unable to do so. A Committee may appoint at any session one or more rapporteurs from among the delegates present.
Secretariat
5. A Member Country to which a Codex Committee has been assigned is responsible for providing all conference services including the secretariat. The secretariat should have adequate stenographic and typing staff able to work easily in the languages used at the session and should have at its disposal adequate typing and document reproducing equipment. Interpretation, preferably simultaneous, should be provided from and into all languages used at the session, and if the report of the session is to be adopted in more than one of the working languages of the Committee, then the services of a translator should be available. The Committee secretariat is charged with the preparation of the draft report in consultation with the rapporteurs, if any. Where necessary, assistance will be given by the representatives of FAO and WHO attending the meeting in the drafting of the report.
Duties and Terms of Reference
6. The duties of a Codex Committee shall include:
the drawing up of a list of priorities, as appropriate, among the subjects and products within its terms of reference;
consideration of the types of product to be covered by standards, e.g. whether materials for further processing into food should be covered;
preparation of draft Codex standards within its terms of reference;
reporting to each session of the Commission on the progress of its work and, where necessary, on any difficulties caused by its terms of reference, together with suggestions for their amendment.
SESSIONS
Invitations and Provisional Agenda
7(a) Sessions of Codex Committees will be convened by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO in consultation with the chairman of the respective Codex Committee. The chairman concerned should send drafts of the letter of invitation and provisional agenda to the Chief, FAO/WHO Food Standards Program, FAO, Rome, for issue by the Directors-General to all Members and Associate Members of FAO and WHO, Codex Contact Points and interested international organizations in accordance with the official mailing lists of FAO and WHO. Draft invitations and provisional agenda should be sent to FAO at least three months before the date of the meeting. Chairmen should, before submitting the drafts, inform and consult with the national Codex Contact Point where one has been established, and, if necessary, obtain clearance from the national authorities concerned (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, or as the case may be). If the Directors-General wish to propose amendments, the chairman of the Committee concerned should be consulted before these are made. The draft invitation and provisional agenda submitted by the chairman will be translated by FAO/WHO into the working languages of the Commission.
(b) Invitations will be issued in the working languages of the Commission and drafts should include the following:
Replies to invitations will normally be requested to be sent to reach the chairman as early as possible and in any case not less than 30 days before the session. A copy should also be sent to the Chief, FAO/WHO Food Standards Program, FAO, Rome. It is of the utmost importance that by the date requested a reply to invitations should be sent by all those governments and international organizations which intend to participate. The reply should specify the number of copies and the language of the documents required.
(c) The provisional agenda should state the time, date and place of meeting and should include the following items:
The work of the Committee and the length of the meeting should be so arranged as to leave sufficient time at the end of the session for a report of the Committee's transactions to be agreed.
Organization of work
8. A Codex Committee may assign specific tasks to countries, groups of countries or to international organizations represented at meetings of the Committee and may ask Member Countries and international organizations for views on specific points. A Codex Committee may not set up formal sub-committees, whether open to all Members of the Commission or not, without the specific approval of the Commission.
Preparation and distribution of papers
9(a) Papers for a session should be sent by the chairman of the Codex Committee concerned at least two months before the opening of the session to the following: (i) all Codex Contact Points, (ii) chief delegates of Member Countries, of observer countries and of international organizations and, (iii) other participants on the basis of replies received. Twenty copies of all papers in each of the languages used in the Committee concerned should be sent to the Chief, FAO/WHO Food Standards Program, FAO, Rome.
(b) Papers for a session prepared by participants must be drafted in one of the working languages of the Commission, which should, if possible, be one of the languages used in the Codex Committee concerned. These papers should be sent to the chairman of the Committee, with a copy to the Chief, FAO/WHO Food Standards Program, FAO, Rome, in good time (see paragraph 9(a)) to be included in the distribution of papers for the session.
(c) Documents circulated at a session of a Codex Committee, other than draft documents prepared at the session and ultimately issued in a final form, should subsequently receive the same distribution as other papers prepared for the Committee.
(d) Codex Contact Points will be responsible for ensuring that papers are circulated to those concerned within their own country and for ensuring that all necessary action is taken by the date specified.
(e) Committee chairmen should assign consecutive reference numbers in suitable series to all documents of Codex Committees. The reference number should appear at the top right-hand corner of the first page together with a statement of the language in which the document was prepared and the date of its preparation. A clear statement should be made of the provenance (origin or author country) of the paper immediately under the title. The text should be divided into numbered paragraphs.
(f) Members of Codex Committees should advise the Committee chairman through their Codex Contact Point of the number of copies of documents normally required.
(g) Working papers of Codex Committees may be circulated freely to all those assisting a delegation in preparing for the business of the Committee; they should not, however, be published. There is, however, no objection to the publication of reports of the meetings of committees or of completed draft standards.
Conduct of meetings
10(a) Meetings of Codex Committees, apart from formal opening proceedings, should be open only to accredited delegates and observers and to members of the Secretariat and its ancillary staff unless the Committee decides otherwise. Member Countries responsible for Codex Committees shall decide who should open meetings on their behalf. The chairman should invite observations from members of the Committee concerning the provisional agenda and in the light of such observations formally request the Committee to adopt the provisional agenda or the amended agenda. Meetings should be conducted in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Attention is particularly drawn to Rule VI.7 which reads: “The provisions of Rule XII of the General Rules of FAO shall apply mutatis mutandis to all matters which are not specifically dealt with under Rule VI of the present Rules”. Rule XII of the General Rules of FAO, a copy of which will be supplied to all chairmen of Codex Committees, gives full instructions on the procedures to be followed in dealing with voting, points of order, adjournment and suspension of meetings, adjournment and closure of discussions on a particular item, reconsideration of a subject already decided and the order in which amendments should be dealt with.
(b) Chairmen of Codex Committees should ensure that all questions are fully discussed. Chairmen should also ensure that the written comments of members not present at the session are considered by the Committee; that all issues are put clearly to the Committee. This can usually best be done by stating what appears to be the generally acceptable view and asking delegates whether they have any objection to its being adopted. The chairmen should always try to arrive at a consensus and should not ask the Committee to proceed to voting if agreement on the Committee's decision can be secured by consensus.
(c) Delegations and delegations from observer countries who wish their opposition to a decision of the Committee to be recorded may do so, whether the decision has been taken by a vote or not, by asking for a statement of their position to be contained in the report of the Committee. This statement should not merely use a phrase such as: “The delegation of X reserved its position” but should make clear the extent of the delegation's opposition to a particular decision of the Committee and state whether they were simply opposed to the decision or wished for a further opportunity to consider the question.
(d) Only the chief delegates of Member Countries, or of observer countries or of international organizations have the right to speak unless they authorize other members of their delegations to do so.
Reports
11(a) In preparing reports, the following points shall be borne in mind:
(b) The following appendices should be attached to the report:
(c) The secretariat of a Codex Committee should ensure that, as soon as possible and in any event not later than one month after the end of the session, copies of the final report, as adopted, are sent to all participants, all Codex Contact Points and to the Chief, FAO/WHO Food Standards Program, FAO, Rome, who should receive 20 copies in each language used at the session.
DRAWING UP OF CODEX STANDARDS
12. A Codex Committee, in drawing up standards, should bear in mind the following:
the guidance given in the General Principles of the Codex Alimentarius;
that all standards should have a preface containing the following information:
matters in the draft standard requiring ratification or action by other Codex Committees;
that for standards for a product which includes a number of sub-categories, e.g. cheese, the Committee may either draft a general standard and then draft standards for sub-categories with different composition requirements, e.g. ‘full fat cheese’ ‘skimmed milk cheese’ within the general standard or draft standards for a series of sub-categories without any general standard. In either case, such standards should contain clear designations for the sub-categories;
that, in general, it should not be necessary to change the name of a food solely because of the presence of a permitted food additive. However, in some instances, where the additive results in a significant change in the product, appropriate labelling may be required in addition to the listing of the additive among the declaration of ingredients.
RELATIONS BETWEEN COMMODITY COMMITTEES AND GENERAL COMMITTEES
13. Codex Committees may ask the advice and guidance of the Committees on Food Labelling, Food Additives, Methods of Analysis and Sampling, and Food Hygiene, on any points coming within their province.
Food Labelling
(a) Codex Commodity Committees should prepare a section on labelling in each draft commodity standard and this section should contain all the labelling provisions of the standard. The labelling section should only include provisions which are exemptions from, additions to, or which are necessary for the interpretation of, the general standard on food labelling in respect of the product concerned. All Codex commodity standards should be referred to the Codex Committee on Food Labelling at Step 3 of the Procedure for the Elaboration of Codex Standards, though such reference should not be allowed to delay the progress of the standard to the subsequent steps of the Procedure. All labelling provisions will require to be ratified by the Codex Committee on Food Labelling. When commodity standards are sent to governments for comment at Step 3, they should contain a statement that the labelling provisions are subject to ratification by the Codex Committee on Food Labelling and that the general standard on food labelling will apply except insofar as the commodity standard specifically provides otherwise.
Food Additives
(b) Codex Commodity Committees should prepare a section on food additives in each draft commodity standard and this section should contain all the provisions in the standard relating to food additives. The section should include the names of those additives which are considered to be technologically necessary or which are widely permitted for use in the food within limits, where appropriate. All provisions in respect of food additives contained in Codex commodity standards should be referred to the Codex Committee on Food Additives at Step 3 of the Procedure for the Elaboration of Codex Standards, though such reference should not be allowed to delay the progress of the standard to the subsequent steps of the Procedure. All provisions in respect of food additives will require to be ratified by the Codex Committee on Food Additives. When commodity standards are sent to governments for comment at Step 3, they should contain a statement that the provisions in respect of food additives are subject to ratification by the Codex Committee on Food Additives and to any general list of food additives drawn up by that Committee.
Methods of Analysis and Sampling
(c) When Codex Committees have included provisions on methods of analysis or sampling in a Codex commodity standard, these should be referred to the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling at Step 3 of the Procedure for the Elaboration of Codex Standards, though such reference should not be allowed to delay the progress of the standard to the subsequent steps of the Procedure. All provisions in respect of analysis and sampling will require to be ratified by the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling. When commodity standards containing provisions on methods of analysis or sampling are sent to governments for comment at Step 3, they should contain a statement that these provisions are subject to ratification by the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling.
Food Hygiene
(d) When Codex Committees have included provisions relating to hygiene in a Codex commodity standard, these should be referred to the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene at Step 3 of the Procedure for the Elaboration of Codex Standards, though such reference should not be allowed to delay the progress of the standard to the subsequent steps of the Procedure. All provisions in respect of hygiene will require to be ratified by the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene. When commodity standards containing provisions on hygiene are sent to governments for comments at Step 3, they should contain a statement that these provisions are subject to ratification by the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene.
Quick Frozen Foods
(e) When Codex Committees have elaborated Codex commodity standards for quick frozen food products, these should be referred to the Joint ECE/Codex Alimentarius Group of Experts on Standardization of Quick-Frozen Foods at Step 3 of the Procedure for the Elaboration of Codex Standards for comment by the Group of Experts.
