81. The 31st Session of the CCFAC decided to revise the document in the light of the comments received and presented in the form of an annex to the General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Foods. The work was assigned to the United Kingdom, with the assistance of Australia, Denmark, France, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Thailand, the United States and WHO.[44] Due to time constraints, not all of the author countries had the opportunity to contribute to the development of the document.
82. The delegation of France had also offered to prepare a discussion paper on use of distribution curves for contaminants in foods, in collaboration with WHO. Although the intention had been for the French contribution to be provided to the United Kingdom for inclusion in CX/FAC 00/15, the paper was distributed separately as CX/FAC 00/15-Add. 1.[45]
83. The chairman of the ad hoc Working Group on Contaminants and Toxins explained that the methodology proposed by the United Kingdom was intended as a risk management screening tool for use in the establishment of maximum levels for inclusion in the GSCT.
84. Although some delegations expressed general support for the methodology outlined in the document, it was indicated that there were still some problems with the proposed model.
85. The Committee agreed to append Annex I (Methodology and Principles for Exposure Assessment in the Codex General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food) to its report (see Appendix XVII) for circulation, comment at Step 3 and further consideration at its next meeting. The Committee also agreed that comments would be requested concerning data on actual foodstuff contamination on the Technical Annex on Distribution Curves of Contaminants in Food Products prepared by France (CX/FAC 00/15-Add. 1) in the Circular Letter to this report, with the intention that this document would in due course be incorporated into Annex I.
