1. The Thirteenth Session of the Joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission was held at FAO Headquarters, Rome, from 3 to 14 December 1979. The Session was attended by 276 participants, including the representatives and observers of 56 countries, and observers from 22 international organizations (see Appendix I for List of Participants).
2. The Commission was presided over by its Chairman, Prof. Dr. E. Matthey (Switzerland), and for certain items of the agenda by the following Vice-Chairmen: Mr. D A. Akoh (Nigeria) and Prof. Dr. D. Eckert (Federal Republic of Germany). Apologies for absence were received from the third Vice-Chairman, Dr. S. Al Shakir (Iraq). The Joint Secretaries were Mr. G.O. Kermode (FAO/WHO), Mr. H.J. McNally (FAO/WHO), Dr. D.G. Chapman (WHO) and Dr. L. Reinius (WHO).
3. The Thirteenth Session of the Joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission was convened by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO, and was opened, on behalf of the Directors-General, with a speech of welcome by Dr. Ralph W. Phillips, Deputy Director-General of FAO. During the course of his remarks, the Deputy Director-General expressed appreciation to Prof. Matthey for his excellent work as Chairman of the Commission. Noting that Prof. Matthey would shortly be retiring as Head of the Swiss Federal Food Control Service, he wished him and Madame Matthey many happy years of retirement. The text of the address by Dr. Phillips is contained in Appendix II to this Report. The reply of the Chairman, who thanked the Deputy Director-General for having opened the session, is contained in Appendix III to this Report.
4. The Chairman informed the Commission of the deaths of Dr. V. Enggaard (Denmark) and Dr. M. Kondrup (Denmark) since the last session of the Commission. He recalled their many years of association with the Codex Alimentarius Commission from the time of its first session in 1963, which they had both attended. Dr. Enggaard had been Chairman of the Codex Committee on Processed Meat and Poultry Products since 1967 and Dr. Kondrup had been a very active member of the Danish delegation. The Chairman expressed sympathy to the Danish delegation on behalf of the Commission. The Commission observed a minute's silence in memory of Dr. Enggaard and Dr. Kondrup.
5. The Commission adopted the provisional agenda of the session, as set forth in document ALINORM 79/1-Rev.1.
6. During the session, the Commission elected Professor Dr. D. Eckert (Federal Republic of Germany) as Chairman of the Commission, to serve from the end of the Thirteenth to the end of the Fourteenth Session. The Commission also elected Mr. D.A. Akoh (Nigeria), Mr. E.F. Kimbrell (USA) and Dr. E.R. Mendez (Mexico) as Vice-Chairmen of the Commission to serve from the end of the Thirteenth to the end of the Fourteenth Session.
7. The Commission elected from the Members of the Commission representatives for the following geographic locations in the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, to hold office from the end of the Thirteenth to the end of the Fifteenth Session of the Commission in accordance with Rule III.1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission: Africa - Kenya; Asia - Republic of Korea; Europe - USSR; Latin America - Argentina; North America - Canada; South-West Pacific - New Zealand.
8. The following persons were appointed by the Commission as Regional Coordinators for: Africa - Dr. T. N'Doye (Senegal); Asia - Dr. D.S. Chadha (India); Latin America - Dr. A.M. Dovat (Uruguay) - to serve to the end of the Fourteenth Session of the Commission. The Coordinator for Europe, Prof. Dr. H. Woidich (Austria) who was appointed at the Twelfth Session of the Commission continues to serve to the end of the Fifteenth Session of the Commission.
