62. The 7th Session of the CCFICS[14] requested the Commission to approve the elaboration of proposed draft Guidelines on the Judgement of Equivalence of Sanitary Measures Associated with Food Inspection and Certification Systems as new work. The 46th Session of the Executive Committee was of the opinion that priority should be given to the development of judgement of equivalence regarding matters of food safety, and proposed that a paper be prepared for the next Session of the CCFICS on the matter of judgement of equivalence systems for controlling the safety and quality of foods and outlining the issues involved.[15] Noting this opinion, the 23rd Session of the Commission decided that the CCFICS should continue to consider this item as a discussion paper, and as concepts in this area fell within the mandates of other Codex committees, the discussion paper would need to be circulated to these committees for their comments.[16] New Zealand prepared, in cooperation with Australia, Canada and the United States, a discussion paper which included a suggested framework for determining the equivalence of sanitary measures associated with food inspection and certification systems. The Committee thanked New Zealand and the other countries involved in the preparation of the Guidelines.
63. The Committee supported the development of Guidelines within the Codex step procedure. Most delegations supported the priority consideration of the judgement of equivalence of sanitary measures on a separate and if possible parallel track to the judgement of equivalence of technical regulations. Other delegations noted the difficulty in separating sanitary aspects from those related to technical matters, and suggested that the Committee might consider merging the two concepts at a later stage. It was also noted that the paper should take account of the work and definitions developed in other Codex committees, and should stress the primacy and importance of adhering to Codex texts and the mandate of the Commission when elaborating the Guidelines.
64. It was suggested that the flow chart for the determination of equivalence (figure 1), which referred to "objective basis for comparison" instead of "food safety objective", would need to be updated to reflect the current text.
Status of the Discussion Paper on the Judgement of Equivalence of Sanitary Measures Associated with Food Inspection and Certification Systems
65. The Committee requested New Zealand, with assistance from Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Morocco, the United States and the European Commission, to proceed with the development of Guidelines on the Judgement of Equivalence of Sanitary Measures Associated with Food Inspection and Certification Systems for circulation and comment at Step 3 prior to the 9th Session of the CCFICS. This decision was taken with the understanding that the development of the Guidelines would be subject to subsequent approval as new work by the 47th Session of the Executive Committee. The Committee also noted that its work in this area would be drawn to the attention of other Codex committees, including CCGP and CCFH.
