13. In accordance with Rule XI. 1 of the Commission’s Rules of Procedure, the Secretariat tabled a report on the expenditures of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme for the biennium 1998/99 and the approved budget for 2000/2001. The Executive Committee noted the statement of expenditures for 1998/99 and the fact that an surplus of US$ 75,000 had been carried forward in the cost-sharing Joint Budget into the present biennium. The Executive Committee also noted that in part the surplus of budget over expenditure was due to the unfilled vacancy of post of Chief of the Joint Programme in the period from August 1999 to the end of the biennium. It was reported that from 2000 onwards, FAO had agreed to transfer this post from the Joint Programme to the FAO Regular Programme as Chief of the Food Quality and Standards Service and to abolish the post of Chief, Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. Nevertheless, the post remained vacant.
14. The Executive Committee noted that not only this post, but also the post of FAO Secretary to the JECFA had remained unfilled for a long period of time and expressed its considerable concern at this situation, although the functioning of the JECFA post had been ensured by the FAO Partnership Programme. It called upon FAO to take immediate steps to fill these posts so as to restore the effective functioning of the Commission and JECFA.
15. The Executive Committee noted that the approved budget for 2000/2001 was considered adequate to deliver the programme at the same level as in the previous biennium but expressed concern that this may not be adequate to meet the additional demands for new work and improvements in the timeliness. Resource requirements for new work or for high priority areas that needed strengthening should be identified. In particular, it noted that the Codex Secretariat employed under the Joint Budget had been reduced in size as a result of the changes mentioned above, but noted that this was offset in part by the voluntary support in terms of professional staff provided to the Codex Secretariat through the FAO Government Cooperation and Associate Expert Programmes and the provision of a part-time staff member from WHO.
16. It commended the work of the joint Secretariat in providing efficient support to the Commission and its subsidiary committees, including the workload associated with the increasing demands on the Commission and the increased number of meetings. The Executive Committee called upon FAO and WHO to give serious consideration to increasing the number of permanent professional staff in the Secretariat, and also called upon Member governments to consider the possibility of further supporting the Secretariat through voluntary programmes such as those mentioned above. It requested the Secretariat to include details of these voluntary programmes in its next report.
17. In response to questions raised by Members, it was noted that the Codex (Joint) Budget did not provide resources for risk communication or for direct support for the participation of developing country participation in Codex meetings. On the other hand it was noted that part of the FAO-only budget was used for holding national workshops on the establishment and administration of national Codex Contact Points and national Codex Committees, either from the Codex Secretariat directly or through FAO Regional and Sub-Regional Offices.
18. The Representative of FAO informed the Committee of the other indirect contributions that the Organization made to the Codex programme. These include (i) the normative work in food safety risk assessment carried out jointly with WHO (JECFA, JMPR, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Evaluation of Foods derived from Biotechnology) and other expert consultations; (ii) the development of manuals and guidelines on various aspects of food quality and safety; and, (iii) the technical assistance provided to Member countries to enhance their participation in Codex through, in particular, the establishment and/or strengthening of National Codex Committees. He indicated that under FAO’s Technical Cooperative Programme (TCP) some 20 countries were being supported in this field with a total budget of over US $ 2.5 million.
19. The Representative of FAO further informed of the support given by FAO, in collaboration with other organizations, to the holding of Regional thematic workshops prior to the meetings of most Regional Codex Coordinating Committees which constituted a direct contribution to the participation of these countries in Codex work.
20. Regarding the budget for 2000-2001, the “WHO-only budget” was presented for the first time. The budget covered the cost for convening ad hoc expert consultations on microbiological risk assessment and biotechnology, which were closely related to the work of the Commission. The Representative of WHO stated that within the current biennial further fund from the WHO regular budget would be provided for food safety activities and that it would be mainly used to produce scientific advice to support health related work of the Commission.
21. The Executive Committee also noted the on-going discussions between FAO and WHO on their working relationship that were being undertaken with a view to increasing the involvement and support of WHO in the work of the Commission and its committees. The Executive Committee looked forward to the completion of this effort by FAO and WHO and of being informed of the outcome of the discussions between the two parent organizations. It renewed its call for close cooperation between FAO and WHO notably in the context of Codex Alimentarius.
