22. The Representative of FAO introduced the working document describing the outcome of the “International Conference on Food Trade Beyond 2000: Science-based Decisions, Harmonization, Equivalence and Mutual Recognition” organized by FAO, and held in Melbourne, Australia, 11-15 October 1999 in co-operation with WHO and WTO. He informed that the Conference made a large number of recommendations which addressed each one of the issues discussed at the Conference. He referred in particular to Annex I of the document which reproduced the “General Recommendations of the Conference”, and to Annex II which contained a compilation of those recommendations that are addressed to, or can be acted upon by, the Codex Alimentarius Commission and/or its subsidiary bodies.
23. The Executive Committee noted with satisfaction the Conference’s appreciation of the work of the Commission and its fullest support to the current direction of its work. The Executive Committee further noted that the vast majority of the “General Recommendations” contained in Annex I were addressed to Member Governments and/or FAO and WHO. It noted that several of these recommendations would need to be considered in the development of the Medium Term Plan (Item 6). On recommendations 10 and 14, the Executive Committee recognised the importance of risk communication for Codex and the need to explore strategies to collect information from all regions of the world about consumer requirements, perceptions, beliefs, and motivations concerning food, nutrition and food safety. It agreed that the matter should be discussed at the Codex Regional Committees and that the Secretariat should explore ways of conducting a pilot study for generating such information. The Executive Committee noted that several countries and organizations have conducted studies in this field and suggested that a literature review be made on the subject by the Secretariat.
24. The Executive Committee strongly supported closely coordinated and early action by FAO and WHO and the Codex Alimentarius Commission on microbiological food safety issues within their respective areas of responsibility.
25. The Executive Committee noted that most of the recommendations in Annex II of the document were already being addressed by the relevant Codex Committees (Recommendations 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20) or by FAO/WHO (Recommendations 2, 9, 13, 19). Others (Recommendations 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 21) would need to be examined in relation with the discussion of the Medium Term Plan (Agenda Item 6) and/or by the Codex Regional Coordinating Committees. In relation to Recommendation 5, the Committee recommended that FAO/WHO consider holding special workshops on the issue of “precaution” prior to the future sessions of the Codex Coordinating Committees to facilitate the debate on this subject at the Committee on General Principles.
26. The Executive Committee recognised the need to develop guidelines for determining equivalence of food control systems, covering not only safety but also quality and conformity.
