Quantitative Declaration of Ingredients
78) The Committee recalled that the Commission had asked the Committee to consider the recommendation of IACFO for quantitative declaration of ingredients. The Observer from IACFO expressed the view that current labelling provisions did not allow consumers to make informed choices and proposed to require a quantitative declaration for all ingredients representing at least 5% of the final product.
79) Some delegations supported further consideration of this issue but noted that the implications should be considered carefully, especially the threshold for declaration. The Delegation of the United States supported further consideration of voluntary application of quantitative declaration, but objected to mandatory declaration. It was noted that where legislation existed on quantitative declaration, the requirements for such labelling were based on various criteria but did not apply to all ingredients above 5%.
80) The Observer from ICGMA expressed its concern at the implications of this proposal for manufacturers since it would prevent flexibility in the use of ingredients and might require the disclosure of proprietary information, without providing significant benefit to consumers.
81) The Committee agreed to undertake new work on a Proposed Draft Amendment to the General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods (section 5.1). Subject to the approval of the Executive Committee as new work, the Proposed Draft would be circulated for comments and consideration by the next session, on the basis of the text included in the discussion paper (CX/FL 00/12).
Misleading Claims
82) The Delegation of the United States informed the Committee that more time would be needed to prepare a discussion paper on misleading claims in the context of all labelling and it was agreed that this question would be considered by the next session.
Country of Origin Labelling
83) The Delegation of the United Kingdom introduced CRD 1 that proposed to start new work on country of origin labelling. The Delegation stated that there was considerable concern among consumers and producers in the United Kingdom that current practice in country of origin labelling was failing to provide consumers with the information they need to make informed choices. Consequently, there was a need to review the current provisions of the Codex General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods, both Section 4.5.1 and Section 4.5.2. The Observer from Consumers International stressed the importance of this work to enable consumers to make a more informed choice. The Delegation of the United Kingdom offered to draft a discussion paper for the next session to explore the necessity to start new work on a revision of the General Standard. The Delegations of Switzerland and Malaysia supported this proposal and wished to participate in the drafting.
84) The Delegation of the United States, supported by some delegations and observer organizations, pointed out that the World Customs Organization had worked on this issue and that the result would be discussed at the World Trade Organization. The Delegation stated that this point should be fully taken into account in the deliberation of the Committee in order to avoid any duplication of work. It was also pointed out that such declaration would be difficult to apply for composite ingredients.
85) The Committee appreciated the proposal by the United Kingdom, Malaysia and Switzerland to prepare a discussion paper for circulation prior to the next session. All delegations were invited to send any relevant comments to the United Kingdom as soon as possible.
Substances Used in Organic Production
86) The Delegation of Malaysia proposed to add by-products of oil palm, cocoa and coconut to the substances for use in soil fertilization and conditioning in Table 1 of the Guidelines for the Production, Processing, Labelling and Marketing of Organically Produced Foods.
87) In view of the specific and non-controversial nature of this amendment, the Committee agreed to seek the approval of the Executive Committee to consider it under the Accelerated Procedure. The Committee noted that this amendment was limited to the specific products proposed by Malaysia and would not entail a review of the permitted substances for the organic production of foods in the Guidelines at this time.
Date and Place of the Next Session
88) The Committee was informed that the next session was tentatively scheduled to be held in Ottawa from 1 to 4 May 2001, the exact arrangements to be determined between the host country and the Codex Secretariat.
