20. The Chairperson reported on the sequence of meetings and consultations that had been held subsequent to the last session of the Executive Committee in order to elaborate a draft Strategic Framework and Medium-Term Plan in response to the Executive Committee's guidance in this matter (ALINORM 01/3, paras. 36-41). A working group, consisting of the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairpersons and the Secretariat had developed a structured model consisting of:
i. a strategic vision statement;21. The Executive Committee agreed to review the strategic vision statement and the strategic framework and noted that most of the comments that had been received had been positive and supportive of the approach taken. Under the circumstances, the Executive Committee was of the opinion that these documents were suitable, with some revision in the light of comments received, for submission to the Commission for adoption. The detailed Medium-Term Plan could then be reviewed and developed with the further input of the Regional Coordinating Committees, other Codex Committees and member governments and international organizations in time for adoption by the Commission session of 2003 as had been planned.ii. a strategic framework described by objectives; and
iii. a detailed medium- term plan described by specific activities.
22. In this light, the Executive Committee revised the draft Strategic Vision Statement to take into account the concerns expressed that the ability to attain the "highest levels of consumer protection" could be construed as a reason for establishing technical barriers to trade. Moreover, the Executive Committee was of the opinion that food quality should be explicitly mentioned as a goal of the Commission's strategic vision.
23. A number of changes were made to the text of the Strategic Framework. These are indicated in the revised version as shown in Appendix II to the present report. The Executive Committee noted in particular the concerns expressed in written comments about the proposal to delegate to Codex Committees the authority to advance proposed draft texts at Step 5 of the Codex Procedure and deleted this specific proposal. However, it agreed that consideration should be given to a review of the elaboration procedures to see in which manner they could be made more responsive and efficient and take into account modern information technologies for the exchange of views.
24. The Executive Committee also stressed the evidence-based nature of the Codex scientific decision-making process and made a number of changes to clarify this and to stress the need for transparency of the process and the use and understanding of precaution in the process.
25. More emphasis was also given to the needs of developing countries in terms of capacity-building and human resource development. In addition, the Executive Committee decided to include a specific commitment to consider opportunities for strengthening partnerships with all stakeholders, in particular consumers and their representative organizations, at the global and national levels.
Status of the Revised Draft Strategic Framework
26. The Executive Committee agreed to submit the revised Draft Strategic Framework as contained in Appendix II of this report to the Commission for adoption.
Draft Medium-Term Plan
27. The Executive Committee did not review in detail the draft Medium-Term plan for the reasons relating to its future development that are given in para. 21 above. It was suggested that a specific activity of "Developing guidelines for risk communication" should be included in the Plan.
Chairperson's Action Plan
28. The Chairperson introduced his revised Action Plan which had been developed from previous versions as a result of consultations with delegates and other interested parties. The Executive Committee generally welcomed the direction and thrust of the Action Plan and expressed its appreciation to the Chairperson for the work that had been undertaken.
29. The Executive Committee recommended that careful consideration should be given to the recommendation to establish a Chairman's Coordination and Advisory Group; several members felt that the role of such a group would need to be prescribed. In addition, many members expressed concern that such a group would be unbalanced geographically based on the present arrangements for the hosting of Codex Committees, although the Chairpersons of the Regional Coordinating Committees would also be part of the group. The Executive Committee advised that the terms of reference of such a group, if established, would have to be clearly defined so that its work would be separated from that of the Executive Committee and that it would not be a decision-making body.
30. In regard to the proposals to establish a system of co-chairing of Codex Committees and Task Forces and the convening of Committees and Task Forces in developing countries, it was suggested that a list of countries wishing to identify themselves as potential co-chairs or hosts should be established.
31. The Executive Committee noted that no decision had been taken in relation to proposals to either abolish or restructure the Executive Committee or to convene meetings of the Commission on an annual basis. Although there was support from many members for the holding of annual meetings of the Commission, one member warned that this would have significant financial implications for developing countries that would need to attend more frequent Commission meetings.
32. The Executive Committee noted the recommendations in the Action Plan concerning the transparency of the FAO/WHO expert committees and consultations. In regard to the establishment of a trust fund to enhance developing country participation in Codex meetings, several delegations stressed that one of the main issues that required priority attention was capacity building at the national level in order to ensure that such participation would be effective and durable.
33. The proposals to convert existing Codex commodity committees to task forces was welcomed by most members and agreement was reached in principle, but some members expressed reservations or were of the opinion that this should be seen as a gradual process that would respond to strategic work planning.
Status of the Chairperson's Action Plan
34. The Chairperson thanked the Executive Committee for its input and stated that he would take the advice of the Executive Committee into account in his presentation of the Action Plan to the Commission.
