35. The Committee recalled that it was agreed at the 30th Session to advance the Proposed Draft Code to Step 5. The 45th Session of the Executive Committee (June 1998) adopted the Proposed Draft Code at Step 5 and advanced it to Step 6. Comments received in response to the CL 1997/41-FH were incorporated in document CX/FH 98/4.
36. The Delegation of the United States, on behalf of the ad hoc Working Group which had met prior to the Session, presented the Draft Code as amended by the ad hoc Working Group. The Committee expressed its appreciation of the efforts of Working Group and reviewed the Draft Code. The Committee decided to defer the discussion on Appendix 2 since it had just been made available to the plenary session.
37. Regarding the Introduction Section, the Committee recalled that its 30th Session had agreed to delete the section on Labelling and had considered addressing the issues contained in the section in some way. The Committee was informed that those concerns were addressed in the Introduction, where it was suggested that the optimal place for such information would be on the label.
38. Many delegations expressed their concerns that the new paragraphs in the Introduction concerning both information on water treatment methods and on the consumption of this water by infants were not appropriate for a code of hygienic practice. They stressed that such issues were already covered by the Codex General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods. The delegation of the United States and the Observer from Consumers International supported the inclusion of these new paragraphs because such information addressed safety matters and were directly related to the protection of human health. The Delegation of Argentina proposed that information regarding the use of water in infant formula should be considered as part of the labelling of infant formula.
39. The Committee noted that a number of editorial and other comments received still needed to be considered and incorporated into the document.
40. Some delegations expressed their regret that the Code could not be advanced to Step 8 in view of the extensive work which had been done so far. However, in view of the remaining issues to be addressed and of time constraints, the Committee agreed that the text should be redrafted for further consideration and that additional comments should be requested.
Status of the Draft Code of Hygienic Practice for Packaged (Bottled) Drinking Waters (other than Natural Mineral Waters)
41. The Committee agreed that the document and its Annexes should be redrafted by the Delegation of the United States in light of the comments made and circulated for further comments at Step 6 prior to the next session of the Committee.
