2. The Session was opened by Mr. A.W. Kalis, Director of the Public Health Department of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. He welcomed the Committee to The Hague, and acknowledged the increased significance of food safety in the work of Codex, especially in the context of the globalization of food production, the intensification of trade in foodstuffs and the increased consumer concern on food safety. He expressed his concern on the limited availability of data and methodology to assess acute dietary intake at the international level, and on the restricted capacity of the Joint Meeting on Pesticide Residues to (re-) evaluate pesticide dossiers, and considered it timely for a fundamental reexamination of the Joint Meeting’s working arrangements.
