66. The 7th Session of the CCFICS requested the advice of the Executive Committee and the Commission on the possible development of guidelines on the judgement of equivalence of technical regulations other than sanitary measures.[18] The 23rd Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission agreed[19] with the views of the 46th Session of the Executive Committee[20] that CCFICS should proceed to develop guidance on the equivalence of systems for inspection and certification in relation to technical regulations other that sanitary measures in parallel with food safety issues.
67. The Committee thanked Australia for the development of the discussion paper, which included a suggested framework for determining the equivalence of technical regulations associated with food inspection and certification systems. The Committee supported the development of guidelines on the judgement of equivalence of technical regulations on a parallel, but separate, track to the judgement of equivalence of sanitary measures with the understanding that at a later stage the two papers could possibly be merged into one document. It was also suggested that the focus of work should be on the equivalence of systems rather than on the equivalence of technical measures expressed in terms of specific values.
68. In considering this issue, the Committee observed that the majority of imported foods were rejected or retained for reasons other than food safety and that the notion of equivalence used in the WTO SPS and TBT Agreements was applied differently. In this regard, several delegations were of the opinion that it would be inappropriate at this stage to combine this document with the document on the determination of equivalence of sanitary measures. The Committee noted further that "quality" should be defined as should the role of "risk" relative to non-safety quality factors; further, "equivalence" should be clarified when dealing with technical as opposed to sanitary or inspection measures. 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.
Status of the Discussion Paper on the Judgement of Equivalence of Technical Regulations Associated with Food Inspection and Certification Systems
69. The Committee agreed that proposed draft Guidelines on the Judgement of Equivalence of Technical Regulations Associated with Food Inspection and Certification Systems would be developed by Australia, with the assistance of France, South Africa and the United States, for circulation and comment at Step 3 and further consideration at its next meeting.
