Draft Principles Concerning the Participation of International Non-Governmental Organizations (Agenda Item 8.1)
Core Functions of Codex Contact Points (Agenda Item 8.2)
86. In response to a request from the 22nd Session of the Commission, the 13th Session of the Committee had considered proposals for the development of guidelines for the participation of International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) in the work of Codex. The Committee requested the Secretariat to revise the draft proposals in the light of discussion and to circulate them for comments prior to the present session.[25]
87. The Committee welcomed the revised proposals. In relation to the paragraph restricting the admission of several organizations working in the same field of interest, the Committee agreed that such a restriction could limit the legitimate participation of a wider number of smaller organizations with different points of view and decided to delete the paragraph. Nevertheless, it maintained in the Annex of information to be provided by applicants for observer status, a request for information that would allow a pragmatic approach to be followed when considering requests from organizations with similar competencies.
88. The Committee also agreed that the list of Observer Organizations published by the Secretariat should indicate the nature of the membership of organizations, especially whether organizations represented trade and industry groups, consumer and other public sector groups, or scientific and professional groups. It was noted that such a distinction would be helpful in the interests of transparency and also in relation to proposals before the Commission for the admission of observers to the Executive Committee on a representational basis. The Secretariat noted that the attribution of organizations into one or other of these groups would have to be tentative in the first instance, pending information from the organizations concerned.
89. The Committee also agreed to include in the Annex of information required from applicant organizations, information on the sources of funding for such organizations. The Observer of Consumers International pointed out that such information would be useful in determining the bona fides of organizations, consistent with the recommendations of the FAO Expert Consultation in this matter.[26]
Status of the Draft Principles Concerning the Participation of International Non-Governmental Organizations
90. The Committee agreed to transmit the revised Draft Principles as contained in Appendix IV of this report, to the Commission for adoption and publication in the Procedural Manual.
91. The Committee recalled that the Codex Coordinating Committees for Asia and for Europe had held discussions concerning the definition of the core functions of Codex Contact Points and had agreed, at its last session, to consider this matter on the basis of proposals put forward by the Coordinating Committee for Asia.[28] A Circular Letter was subsequently sent to all Codex Contact Points.
92. The Committee revised the draft Core Functions in the light of the comments received, in particular to simplify them and to make them more generally applicable. It was noted that countries had different constitutional and legislative systems, administrative structures, resources and procedures, and that the draft Core Functions could not therefore be specific in making reference to the types of government structures or procedures that participated in Codex at the national level. An introductory statement was included to this effect.
93. It was also noted that whereas many countries had established national Codex Committees, this practice was not universal and depended on the administrative structures, resources and practices in effect in the different countries. The text was amended to reflect this. The Observer from Consumers International expressed concern that many countries do not yet have an effective National Codex Committee or Codex Contact Points and urged that this should be given greater priority.
94. The Delegation of Thailand suggested that the Codex Contact Point could become a strategic unit for capacity building and information exchange on executive and technical matters relating to national food safety plans.
Status of the Draft Core Functions of Codex Contact Points
95. The Committee agreed to transmit the revised Draft Core Functions as contained in Appendix V of this report, to the Commission for adoption and publication in the Procedural Manual.
