82) The 23rd Session of the Commission agreed to develop a checklist of measurable objectives to assess consumer participation in Codex work[20], and encouraged Regional Coordinating Committees to serve as relevant fora to exchange information. The measurable objectives were further considered by the Codex Committee on General Principles[21]. Informative papers were received from 4 governments to prepare this discussion on the involvement of consumers in national Codex work and related matters.
83) The Delegation of the Czech Republic provided information on consumer participation in Codex work based on several measurable objectives, since national Consumer Non-Governmental Organizations had been identified in the country; they had been invited to take part to the National Codex Committee and they had been pleased to take part in the Czech Food Legislation elaboration. Financial support was provided to Consumer NGOs in order to ensure their development, training and independence. The Delegation expressed its disappointment not to see more comments and more precise data on consumer participation, especially from EU members, that could have been useful to the Czech Republic to improve its own existing structure, and to allow informed discussion during the Session of the Coordinating Committee for Europe.
84) The Delegation of the Slovak Republic recalled that even though National Codex structures had been in force since 1996, Slovak Consumer involvement had been quite limited because Slovak Consumer associations were not yet strong enough and so efficient as in other countries in Europe. Their future involvement should be however promoted in a near future through the National Codex Contact Point or the National Codex Committee and its related Working Groups.
85) The Delegation of France recalled that both the Melbourne Conference Recommendations and the Codex Draft Medium-Term Plan stressed the need for governments to answer consumers concerns as a whole. Consumer associations should be associated to the development of the national strategies on Risk Communication and to the preparation of Codex standards, guidelines or recommendations at national and international levels. The Delegation proposed that the Committee should identify better consumer expectations and concerns in order to integrate them into Codex standardization work, in addition to the current discussions on national consumer policy. The Delegation of France also proposed that the Committee should reflect further on risk communication in Codex.
86) The Delegation of Switzerland recalled that the structures allowing consumer involvement are already in force at the national level, but Swiss consumers associations do not yet participate actively, notwithstanding efforts for the promotion of the existing system.
87) The Delegation of the United Kingdom recalled that exhaustive information had been provided to the Committee at its previous sessions. The British authorities were maintaining constant contacts and exchange of views with consumer delegates. The Delegation proposed to inform the Commission that the Committee for Europe considered it essential to encourage greater participation of consumers in Codex meetings.
88) The Delegations of Sweden and Finland recalled that participation of consumers was ensured at the national level and that structures had been in place for a long period of time without major changes since the last session.
89) The Secretariat pointed out that International Consumer NGOs participate regularly and actively in Codex Regional Committees and in general subject Committees, and that can even lead to the development of new work as in the case of questions concerning food labelling.
90) The Committee agreed that consumer participation at the international level in Codex Committees was essential for the Codex Alimentarius in view of its objective to protect consumers’ health and in order to ensure consumer confidence in the decision process. The Committee recognized the importance to reflect consumer concerns on health and other factors and it agreed that this point should be discussed at its next session as such.
