51. The Committee recalled that the question was raised in CCASIA when the 10th Session of that Committee elaborated Draft Guidelines for Codex Contact Points and National Codex Committees. This had subsequently been adopted at Step 5 of the Procedure by the 45th Session of the Executive Committee. Guidelines were progressing very slowly as countries felt that CCP’s and NCC’s depended on administrative structures, laws and customs that were specific to individual countries. The Codex Coordinating Committees for Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean had discussed these Guidelines and felt that such Guidelines are not necessary as the situation differed significantly in various countries. The Codex Committee on General Principles was currently considering a section on the “Core Functions of Codex Contact Points” for inclusion in the Procedural Manual.
52. The Committee noted with appreciation that FAO/Codex had conducted some workshops on the establishment and administration of National Codex Contact Points and National Codex Committees in Malawi, Swaziland, Morocco and Niger and that such a workshop would also be conducted in Namibia. Due to limited resources and time it was not feasible to satisfy all requests but such activities would be provided in future on basis of high priority.
Tanzania
53. The Agriculture and Food Divisional Standards Committee (AFDC) of the Tanzania Bureau of Standards served as the National Codex Committee. Individual technical committees covering Codex subjects had been established, but were limited to four members each because of the restricted number of copies of documents received. Nevertheless, the system was working effectively.
Zimbabwe
54. The National Codex Contact Point was located in the Ministry of Health, specifically in the Laboratory of the Government Chemist. Two training workshops had been held on harmonization and the improvement of food quality, and several simple-language documents explaining food standards and food control had been developed. The Codex Contact Point (the Food Standards Advisory Board) has sensitised the Government for the need to establish a National Accreditation body as a mean of boosting confidence in Zimbabwe products, especially exported food products. The Government of Zimbabwe has recognized the need and a National Steering Committee has been formed to look into this area. The activities of the National Codex Contact Point were hampered by a lack of human and financial resources.
South Africa
55. The National Codex Committee in that country comprised the Ministries of Health, Agriculture, and Foreign Affairs, the Bureau of Standards and consumers organisations. Individual officers in different ministries were allocated work according to their normal duties and that the system was co-ordinated by the National Codex Contact Point. Although a loose structure, the system worked well.
Kenya
56. The Committee was informed that the Bureau of Standards was the Codex Contact Point and that the National Codex Committee comprised Government Ministries, universities, the private sector, and consumers organizations. In March this year the membership of the Committee was reviewed and subcommittees in line with various Codex Committees were established. More input from the private sector was being encouraged. The main problems facing the Committee were the lack of sensitisation of toplevel decision-makers, and the lack of funding.
Malawi
57. The Delegation of Malawi expressed its appreciation for the FAO/Codex Workshop held in that country in 1996. As a result, a national committee had been formed which involved all responsible ministries, industries and consumers. It had since met twice and would soon be formally launched by the government. A proposal on strengthening the Committee’s infrastructure was being presented to the local FAO Representative.
Botswana
58. In 1993 the National Contact Point was transferred from Department of Animal Health and Production of Ministry of Agriculture to the Food Control Unit of the Ministry of Health. The Contact Point had recently obtained funding through the government, which allowed Botswana’s National Codex Committee participation in Codex meetings of importance to the country and for the establishment of a working library and document distribution via email. The Delegation pointed out that problems as regards copying and distribution of Codex documents had been mainly solved when the cost effective internet/email system had been installed.
Ethiopia
59. The Delegation of Ethiopia informed that the Codex standards were efficiently used for formulating drafts of national standards and as a reference for testing procedures in testing laboratories. However the National Codex Contact Point had not been functioning in a way that a National Codex Committee was to be in place. The Delegation expressed interest in obtaining support in the form of a workshop to establish such structures in the near future.
Benin
60. The National Codex Committee had been located in the Directorate of Food and Applied Nutrition of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. It included inspection, veterinary service, and fisheries, public and private structures, including consumers and the National Council of Exporters. The National Bureau of Standards was established last year and the Codex Contact Point was now being relocated in the Bureau as a sectorial committee.
Lesotho
61. A National Codex Committee had yet to be established, but the Contact Point was located in the Food and Nutrition Coordinating Office. The efforts were made to move the Contact Point to the Ministry of Industry Trade and Marketing where the national Enquiry Point for SPS and TBT matters was located. The on-going FAO project in support of the Food Control System in Lesotho included the setting up of a National Codex Committee.
Senegal
62. A National Codex Committee was located within the Food and Applied Nutrition Unit of the Ministry of Health in Senegal. The Committee comprised various representatives of administrative structures as follows: a National Standardisation Institute (ISN), Government Control bodies, consumers associations, research institutes etc. In its day-to-day operations, the Committee was facing difficulties of which the most important of these were: the availability of Codex documents and the dissemination of information among its members. This was therefore why it was necessary to strengthen the Committee in order to enable it to play its role in full.
Côte d’Ivoire
63. At present no National Codex Committee existed in Côte d’Ivoire. Once, there was a Committee on Food and Development (CNAD) located in the Ministry of Agriculture, which was the correspondent of Codex. The Bureau of Standards (CODINORM) received all Codex documents from CNAD and used those documents for the preparation of national food standards.
Swaziland
64. It was reported that, following the successful FAO/Codex-sponsored workshop, a National Codex Committee had been established comprising representatives of industry, consumers, government ministries, and farmers. The National Codex Contact Point was located in the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives.
Uganda
65. The National Codex Contact Point had been transferred from the Ministry of Health to the national Bureau of Standards. However, the National Codex Committee was not meeting on a regular basis and the input to the Codex Contact Point was by means of a network of individual departments in the different government structures. The Contact Point was reviewing the coordination of Codex work with the objective of obtaining better involvement of consumers and the private sector. The Bureau of Standards was also the enquiry point for the WTO/SPS and TBT Agreements.
Cameroon
66. The Contact Point was located in the Ministry of Trade and Industry. There was a need to sensitise other Ministries, especially the Ministry of Health and to establish an effective national Codex structure, preferably through the convening of a national workshop.
Morocco
67. The Codex Contact Point in Morocco was located in the “Division de la Represion des Fraudes” of the Ministry of Agriculture. This Division served also as a secretariat to the National Codex Committee. The latter was established last year and comprised the entire group of institutions concerned with the food control.
68. The Observer from Consumer International while acknowledging establishment of Codex Contact Points advocated for incorporation of consumer organizations into CCP infrastructure.
69. The Committee noted that there had been considerably great progress in the Region due to an improved awareness in the Member countries of the importance of Codex. The Committee also noted that location, structure and operation of Codex Contact Points and National Codex Committees differed greatly from one country to another. The usefulness of the FAO/Codex workshops of the establishment and administration of national Codex structures was emphasised and appreciation for this work was expressed. Follow-up assistance to strengthen national structures to ensure their long-term effectiveness was called for as a priority.
