36. The Committee recalled that at its last Session it had decided to send the definitions of analytical terms, not including those of “limit(s)”, to the Commission, which subsequently endorsed them. It had further decided to request the Inter-Agency Meeting to recommend whether it would be appropriate to include “limits” in the selected terminology and to elaborate their definitions. A Codex Circular Letter had been sent to Member countries and international organizations requesting comments on the inclusion of the definitions of “limits” in the list of terminology, to which only few responses had been received.
37. The Inter-Agency Meeting had considered this issue and concluded that there was no consensus view in the analytical community as to the procedure for determining and defining measurement limits although it had acknowledged the need to address the issue of measurement limits. The Inter-Agency Meeting had recognized that both this Committee and the IUPAC/AOAC/ISO Harmonization Programme were addressing the issue of in-house method validation, one aspect of which would be the establishment of measurement limits (see paras 48-51). It had recommended that future drafts of the IUPAC/AOAC/ISO Guidelines on In-House Methods Validation would address the issue with a view to developing a consensus approach not only within the food sector but across the analytical community.
38. Some delegations confirmed that there were a range of definitions established at the international level but no consensus had been reached on them. It was stated that among these definitions some were not applicable to the area of food analysis.
39. The Committee was generally of the view that this Committee should harmonize the definitions of “limits” for Codex purposes in the future as (1) there had already been the definitions of limit of detection, limit of quantitation, and limit of determination separately developed by the Codex Committees on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) and on Pesticide Residues (CCPR); and (2) there would be a number of definitions considered in relation to the criteria approach and inhouse method validation (see paras 24, 37, 48-51). Some delegations stated that there was also a need for harmonization within the analytical community at the international level.
40. The Committee agreed that the United States in collaboration with Finland, France and Spain would prepare a document on this issue, including definitions as appropriate, for consideration by the Committee at its next Session. France and Spain were also to prepare the French and Spanish versions of the paper. The Committee was informed that CCPR and CCRVDF would be informed of the differences between the definitions of certain limits developed by these Committees.
