16) The Delegation of France introduced the Proposed Draft Guidelines, prepared in cooperation with Australia, Hungary, Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States, and IDF, as agreed at the last session, and highlighted the objectives, structure and main aspects of the text. The Preamble presented the main issues and stressed the importance of sampling in the framework of Codex, and considered the consequences of differences in sampling procedures in international trade. The situations covered or excluded by the Guidelines were summarized in Table 1 and the relationship with the ISO and ANSI standards was addressed in section 1.4. The Delegation indicated that the Definitions were based on ISO terminology as far as possible, with the addition of new terms where necessary. The guidelines considered the difference types of sampling plans (by attributes or by variable) and discussed the criteria for their selection in different cases.
17) Some delegations, while recognizing the need for a statistical approach, expressed the view that the document was too complex to provide effective guidance to governments in the selection of sampling plans in its present form, and also stressed the need for practical examples to facilitate its application. It was also pointed out that different sampling plans would apply to processed foods and fresh produce.
18) Some delegations proposed that a simplified document should be prepared to provide practical guidance to Codex Committees and governments in the selection of sampling plans. The Delegation of France agreed that simplified recommendations should be prepared but pointed out that the scientific aspects of sampling should be retained in a specific document, in view of the earlier decision to apply a statistical approach.
19) The Committee agreed to establish a Working Group during the session to revise the text in the light of the comments received and facilitate the discussion in the Plenary. The Committee decided to proceed with its work on the Guidelines on the basis of the recommendations of the Working Group included in CRD 7.
20) The Committee agreed to change the structure of the document as follows: the Foreword would be transferred from the Guidelines to another document which would address the use of analytical results: sampling, relationship between the analytical result, the measurement uncertainty, recovery factors and the specification in Codex standards, to be prepared by the United Kingdom (see also para. 64).
21) The sampling guidelines would consist of a new first section on “Basic recommendations for the selection of Codex sampling procedures” with a flow chart to facilitate the selection of sampling plans, and the following sections would correspond to the current draft (from section 2 onwards).
22) The Delegation of France indicated that it had not been possible to incorporate all the detailed comments received, including those of New Zealand, in a revised document at the current session due to lack of time and that the drafting group would be prepared to continue its task in order to complete the revision of the text.
23) The Committee agreed that the Delegation of France would continue its work with the assistance of a drafting group working by electronic mail in order to complete the revision of the text for circulation at Step 3. The Committee also agreed that if required there would be a meeting of the Working Group prior to the next session in order to allow for detailed consideration of the comments and facilitate discussion in the Committee.
Status of the Proposed Draft General Guidelines on Sampling
24) The Committee agreed to return the Proposed Draft to Step 3 for redrafting by the Delegation of France with the assistance of a drafting group[5], for circulation at Step 3 and consideration by the next session of the Committee.
25) The Committee expressed its appreciation to the Delegation of France and the drafting group for their considerable work in the preparation and revision of this important document.
