109. The Committee welcomed the progress made in addressing the question of increasing consumer participation in Codex work, both in the Commission and at the national and regional levels. It welcomed the proposed draft Guidance on Measurable Objectives to Assess Consumer Participation in Codex and focussed its attention of the proposals in Appendix A to the discussion paper.
110. The Committee agreed to modify these proposals by providing that the names be included of countries that have established a national Codex Committee or Contact Point or held open consultations with consumers when developing national positions for Codex meetings. It was also agreed to include information on the action of governments to support the establishment and activities of consumer NGOs. On that basis the Draft Guidance was endorsed by the Committee as being appropriate for the development of a baseline set of data and for consideration by the Regional Coordinating Committees when discussing the standing item on consumer participation in the countries of the various regions. The Committee called upon the Secretariat to begin the development of a set of baseline data as soon as possible. It was recommended that a report should be made to the Commission every two years.
111. In relation to a question concerning the membership of the individual consumer organizations participating in the Codex process, it was noted that the Secretariat was required under the provisions of the Principles concerning INGO participation in Codex to report on the status of all observer INGOs to the Commission and that this report would contain a list of addresses and contact details. Furthermore, it was noted that the Yearbook of International Organizations, published by the International Union of International Organizations, contained this information in detail.
112. The Committee also highlighted the Commission's recommendation for the development, by FAO and WHO, of guidelines or models for enhancing consumer participation in Codex and food standards work at the national and international levels and recalled prior FAO and FAO/WHO work in this area that could be of relevance.
