MEETINGS OF CODEX CHAIRPERSONS
46. The Representative of North America reported that a useful informal meeting of Codex Chairpersons had been held during the course of the 22nd Session of the Commission to exchange experience in dealing with problems arising at Codex Committee Sessions, especially in relation to how consensus might be identified. The Representative proposed that similar meetings could be held in the future as opportunities arose in order to facilitate the work of the Commission.
47. The Executive Committee welcomed this initiative, but stressed that such meetings should remain informal and without a formal agenda, and that they should not be seen as establishing any new platform or forum within the Codex structure.
48. It was suggested that the next opportunity for such a meeting would most likely be at the forthcoming meeting of the Committee on General Principles.
HIGH-DOSE FOOD IRRADIATION
49. The Representative of WHO reported that a joint FAO/WHO/IAEA Study Group had met in Vienna in September 1997 to consider the wholesomeness of food irradiated with doses above 10 kGy, the current limit in the Codex Standard. The Study Group had concluded that food irradiated to any dose appropriate to achieve the technological objective was both safe to consume and was nutritionally adequate.[17] It was noted that the findings of the Study Group could lead to a revision of the Codex General Standard for Irradiated Foods and other texts.
DOCUMENTATION SERVICES[18]
50. The Executive Committee noted that due to changes in cost structures and reduction in staff services, it was now more effective and efficient to distribute all Codex documents to all Contact Points and interested international organizations, rather than to maintain different distribution lists depending on the nature of the document or its subject matter. This would lead to some limitations in the distribution of documents, but at the same time documents would in general become more widely available and much greater use would be made of electronic transmission of documents, either through the email subscription list Codex-L, or via the Codex site on the World Wide Web.[19] The Executive Committee welcomed these developments.
