90. The Committee recalled that the rules governing the nomination of the Coordinator had been amended by the 23rd Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and therefore the Committee had to nominate a member country as Coordinator for consideration for appointment by the 24th Session of the Commission.
91. The Secretariat informed the Committee that it had received two proposals in writing for the candidature of Coordinator: an intention from the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco to host the next session of the Committee and the decision of the Government of Uganda to renominate the country as Coordinator for Africa.
92. The Delegation of Tanzania supported by some other delegations pointed out that a new Near-East Committee with Morocco as one of the Member country had been established by the 23rd Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and questioned the eligibility of Morocco to become the next Coordinator for Africa.
93. Some Delegations indicated that traditionally the host countries in the Region of Africa served as Coordinators for two consecutive terms and that as Uganda had only held the Coordination for one term it was therefore eligible to hold it for another term. Some other Delegations while recognizing fact that Coordinating country could be renominated for the second term, were of the opinion that the overall term be reduced to two years (one single term for each country) as to enable the better information exchange among various countries, and thereby, renewed involvement of both political and administrative authorities in the sub-region.
94. Some Delegations pointed out that in the Procedural Manual, which provides official Guidance regarding Codex procedures, Morocco was listed under the Near East Region and therefore the country was not eligible for the nomination as Coordinator for the Region of Africa. Some Delegations drew the attention of the Committee to the fact that in the document CX/AFRICA 00/8 Morocco was listed as a member of the African Region and highlighted the need for clarity as to which region Morocco was affiliated and that the list contained some typos. Therefore, the delegations requested that the rules of the CAC be followed in order to avoid any misinterpretation on this matter.
95. The Secretariat informed the Committee that countries could participate in the work in both regions. However, they had to choose which region they belonged to as members and reminded the Committee that the decision regarding the appointment of Coordinator could only be taken by the next Session of the Commission.
96. Some delegations supported the renomination of Uganda, as the next Coordinator for CCAFRICA, while some other delegations were in favour of Morocco therefore the Committee was unable to reach consensus on this matter.
97. The Delegation of Morocco while complementing Uganda for excellent work drew the attention of the Committee to the fact that in its participation at Codex, Morocco always associated itself with the African Region. The Delegation reminded the Committee that even at the 23rd Session of the Commission, it had expressed willingness to host the 15th Session of the Committee.
98. The Committee concluded that it had received two proposals for the nomination of the next Coordinator for CCAFRICA of Uganda and that of Morocco and decided to forward both nominations to the 24th Session of the Commission to decide the next Coordinator for the Region of Africa.
