33. The 11th Session of the CCLAC agreed to continue considering issues related to food safety of interest to the Region, with particular regard to contamination by Salmonella and Emerging Pathogens. In this connection, the Committee proposed that Brazil and INPPAZ jointly prepare a document on this issue for examination at the 12th Session of the CCLAC. In response to this request and considering the activities developed by the CCFH as well as those pursued by the group of experts of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Risk Assessment of Microbiological Hazards in Foods, which was already working on the assessment of microbiological risk of Salmonella in chicken and eggs, Brazil and INPPAZ felt that the activities of the CCLAC should fit in with the work of the Consultation's group of experts, given that it needed information from Latin America and the Caribbean to orient and complete its activities. Brazil and INPPAZ therefore considered that there should be a change in approach to the issue and prepared a document entitled Guidelines for the Obtaining of Data of Interest for Microbiological Risk Assessment.
34. The Committee thanked Brazil and INPPAZ for their excellent work and unanimously considered that the proposed change to formulate the above-mentioned Guidelines was of interest not only to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean but also to other regions and could serve as a methodology guide in support of the activities being developed by the CCFH and the group of experts of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Risk Assessment of Microbiological Hazards in Foods. The Committee therefore thought it appropriate that this document be submitted for the consideration of the CCFH at its next meeting to give it an international dimension.
35. The Committee discussed how this issue could be included in the Agenda of the next session of the CCFH. The Observer of the United States indicated that the Rules of Procedure allowed any member country to propose that this issue be dealt with at the next session of the CCFH. When making such a proposal, the country in question should take into account related work that had already been done in the CCFH. In this connection, the delegation of Brazil offered to make the request and the Committee agreed.
36. Various delegations provided information on contamination by Salmonella and Emerging Pathogens in their respective countries. The Committee underlined the need to take into account the Region's priorities and realities for the assessment of pathogens. The delegation of Guyana emphasized the advisability of having CARICOM participate in these activities, in view of its experience in the field of food safety. The delegation of Colombia stressed the importance of the participation of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in the work of the International Office of Epizootics (OIE) as that was where health measures were dealt with for the protection of consumers as in the case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).
37. The Delegation of Brazil recalled the pending preparation of the document on food safety in areas of tourism agreed at the previous session of the CCLAC. The Committee stressed the importance of this issue for the Region and welcomed the offer of Costa Rica to prepare, together with the Dominican Republic and Brazil, a draft document to be examined at the next session of the CCLAC, with an open invitation to other interested countries to participate in the preparation.
