Draft Amendment to the Standard for Canned Sardine and
Sardine-Type Products
Inclusion of Clupea bentincki
4) The Committee recalled that following the request of the 21st Session of the Commission to use the Accelerated Procedure for the inclusion of additional species to current standards, the 22nd Session of the Committee considered the inclusion of Clupea bentincki (proposed by Chile) in the Standard for Canned Sardines and Sardine-Type Products, according to the specific procedure for the inclusion of additional species, as follows. The 22nd Session considered the information provided in writing and appointed the laboratories, and the 23rd Session considered the results of the organoleptic tests, and forwarded the draft amendment to the Commission for adoption, in view of the results of these tests. The 23rd Session of the Commission recognized that there was no consensus on the adoption of the amendment and returned it to Step 3 for further consideration by the Committee.
5) The Delegation of Chile pointed out that Codex standards were intended for international trade and should include relevant species of commercial importance; they should not be limited to species from a specific region, in order to avoid discrimination and unjustified barriers to trade. The Delegation pointed out that all relevant taxonomical and economic information had been provided on Clupea bentincki and the laboratory tests conducted according to the procedure confirmed that it should be included as a sardine-type species.
6) This position was supported by several delegations, who pointed out that sardine and sardine-type species of commercial value existed in several regions, and stressed that Clupea bentincki should be included in the Standard. These delegations also stressed that the inclusion of species should be carried out on a scientific basis in order to avoid unjustified barriers to trade which especially affected the exports from developing countries. The Delegation of Indonesia proposed to include Sardinella fimbriata and Sardinella longiceps in the standard since these species are of commercial value in Asian countries. The Delegation of Peru, referring to Sardinops sagax, which was currently included in the standard as a sardine-type species, indicated that when the regulations of some countries differed from the Codex Standard, this created barriers in international trade.
7) The Delegation of Morocco expressed its objections to the inclusion of Clupea bentincki in the standard for the following reasons: the procedure had not been fully respected since no samples from Morocco had been examined and the Committee had not agreed in advance on the criteria to be used by the laboratories. The addition of this species would create confusion for the consumer and in international trade, while significantly affecting the economic interests of Morocco. The Delegation indicated that the current standard included species which should not be considered as sardines, and their presence on the market created serious economic prejudice for Morocco and other exporter countries. The Delegation stressed that the current procedure should be reviewed, since organoleptic testing did not provide an adequate scientific basis and could result in the inclusion of many species which were not related to sardine into the standard.
8) This position was supported by the Delegations of Portugal, Spain and Italy, who stressed the need to consider economic implications and current commercial practices to ensure that the quality of sardines on the market was maintained and avoid consumer confusion.
9) As regards the pre-requisite in the current procedure concerning prior definition of the criteria, the Delegation of Germany recalled that the 22nd Session of the Committee had agreed on the mandate given to the laboratories and left them the choice of the sensory methods to be applied. Eventually they applied different methods and reached the same result. It was also noted that the Committee had invited all interested countries to submit samples to the countries carrying out the tests.
10) The Delegation of Spain expressed the view that the name of products should not be determined by their presentation and that the current standard allowed to present as “sardine-type” some products which were known as herring or anchovies when sold as fresh fish. The Delegation of France supported this point of view and pointed out that this was a general problem; it should be addressed through a review of the labelling provision in the standard and the procedure for the inclusion of additional species.
11) The Committee recognized that there were separate issues to be discussed: the inclusion of Clupea bentincki in the current Standard, which required action by the current Session, and the need to consider labelling requirements in the standard, and the review the current procedure, which should be considered as future work.
12) The Delegation of Morocco, supported by some other delegations, expressed the view that the Committee should not proceed with the inclusion of a new species until the questions of a general nature had been resolved and the procedure amended. Other delegations emphasized that the inclusion of Clupea bentincki should not be held until such time as a new procedure could be established; the current procedure had been applied and its results should be respected, since no new element had been put forward to change the decision.
13) As regards the need to review the current procedure for the inclusion of species, the Committee agreed that the Delegation of France would prepare a discussion paper considering the issues of labelling requirements concerning the name of the product, in view of the need for consistency across Codex standards, and the need to reexamine the current procedure. Interested countries were invited to send their contribution to the Delegation of France to assist in the preparation of the paper, which would be considered by the next session of the Committee
14) As regards the inclusion of Clupea bentincki, the Committee agreed with the proposal of the Chairman that as there were no new elements since the last session, the Committee should confirm its earlier decision on the basis of the current procedure, and forward the Proposed Draft Amendment to the Commission for adoption.
Status of the Proposed Draft Amendment to the Standard for Canned Sardine and Sardine-Type Products - Inclusion of Clupea bentincki
15) The Committee agreed to forward the Proposed Draft Amendment to the 24th Session of the Commission for adoption at Step 5 of the Accelerated Procedure (see Appendix III). The Delegations of Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Tunisia, France and Switzerland expressed their opposition to this decision in view of the arguments put forward in the above discussion.
Labelling of Fish Sticks
16) The Committee recalled that the 23rd Session of the Commission had returned to Step 6 the Draft Amendment to the Standard for Quick Frozen Fish Sticks on the declaration of fish core, for consideration by the Committee on Food Labelling for labelling requirements and by the CCFFP for technical aspects. The Secretariat informed the Committee that the last session of the Committee on Food Labelling (May 2000) had agreed in principle that the declaration of fish content should be included in the labelling section and asked the CCFFP to consider a definition of “fish content” and the method for its determination, in order to allow for the finalization of the Draft Amendment.
17) The Delegation of the United Kingdom presented a discussion paper considering different issues related to the definition of fish content and proposed that it should be determined by chemical analysis based on nitrogen content. The Delegation also proposed that the Code of Practice should be amended to include GMP requirements necessary to diminish the loss of nitrogen and excessive uptake of water during fish processing.
18) Several delegations expressed the view that the determination of nitrogen content would create practical difficulties for regulatory agencies, and that even when GMP were followed in the production process, significant variations could be observed, due to natural differences in nitrogen content in species of fish. In addition, the application of a strict nitrogen limit would significantly limit the number of fish species which could be used for the production of fish sticks. It was also proposed to clarify the practical implications of the change from “fish core” to “fish content”, as related to consumer information.
19) The Observer from the EC expressed the view that other species should be included in the Tables proposed in the working paper, on the basis of the results obtained in the countries and that all important species for international trade should be listed.
20) The Committee agreed that a Working Group coordinated by the United Kingdom and including Canada, Germany, Norway, South Africa and the United States would proceed with work on the questions related to the declaration of fish content, in order to propose a definition and a method of analysis for consideration by the next session of the Committee.
Methods of Analysis and Sampling
Quick Frozen Fish Sticks: Proportion of Fish Fillet and Minced Fish
21) The Committee noted that there were no new performance data available on the WEFTA method and reconfirmed its decision to use the above method in the standard with the amendment proposed by the Delegation of South Africa.
Quick Frozen Fish Sticks: Proportion of Fish Flesh in Fish Sticks (Fish Core)
22) The Committee decided to confirm the necessity of adjustment factors and referred them back to the Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) for endorsement.
Determination of Salt in Salted Fish of the Gadidae Family
23) The Committee recalled that the CCMAS had not endorsed a proposed specific method for the determination of salt content developed by the Delegations of Germany and Norway, as collaborative study data was not available at that time. The Delegation of Germany informed the Committee that the results of two collaborative trials were already available, therefore the Committee decided to refer the proposed method back to the CCMAS for endorsement.
OTHER MATTERS
24) The Representative of WHO informed the Committee about the 53rd Session of the World Health Assembly held in May 2000. The Assembly resolution requested the Director General of WHO to enhance food safety work especially in the following areas:
25) The Representative indicated that food safety became one of the priority areas within WHO and that WHO in cooperation with FAO had undertaken major initiatives in Microbiological Risk Assessment. It was pointed out that the last Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene had identified a list of most important foodborne pathogens and commodity combinations and that three pathogen/commodity combinations i.e. Salmonella in broilers and eggs and Listeria monocytogenes in ready to eat foods including smoked fish, were selected for risk assessment by the Expert Consultation. The Representative informed the Committee that there would be a Workshop on Hazard Characterization (Bilthoven, June 2000) with the aim of developing practical methodology on Hazard Characterization and a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Risk Assessment of Microbiological Hazards (July 2000). The Committee was also informed that a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Biotechnology had been held from 29 May-2 June 2000, in order to provide scientific advice to the Intergovernmental Ad hoc Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology.
