1. The Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission held its Forty-fifth Session at FAO Headquarters, Rome, from 3 to 5 June 1998. The Session was chaired by the Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, Professor Pakdee Pothisiri (Thailand). The list of participants at the Session is given in Appendix 1.
2. The meeting was opened on behalf of the Directors-General of FAO and WHO by Dr. H. de Haen, Assistant Director-General, Economic and Social Department, FAO. He drew attention to the consequences of the outcome of the arbitration by the WTO to the dispute between the US, Canada and the EC on the use of hormones in raising cattle, emphasizing that the Commission’s recommendations must remain scientifically current and correct. He also referred to the Protocol on Biosafety being negotiated under the Convention for Biological Diversity and stated that Codex should be aware of a possible overlap in the field of standards for foods derived from biotechnology.
