Proposed Amendments to the Rules of Procedure (Rule VI.4 Voting and Procedures)
Proposed Amendments to the Rules of Procedure - Membership of Regional Integration Organizations
Other Sections
86. As the quorum specified in Rule IV.6 for the amendment of the Rules of Procedure was not attained, the Commission was unable to adopt the proposed amendment and agreed that it would be considered again at its next session.
87. The Commission recalled that the Committee on General Principles had not reached a decision on the proposals made by the European Community concerning the amendment to the Rules of Procedure to allow the participation of Regional Integration Organizations as Members. Revised proposals had been subsequently put forward after further consultation between the Legal Counsels of FAO, WHO and the European Commission.
88. As the quorum was not constituted, the Commission decided to defer the discussion of the proposed amendments until the next session and to request the Committee on General Principles to consider them thoroughly in order to clarify relevant issues and facilitate the debate at the next session.
Principles for the Establishment of Codex Methods of Analysis
Relations Between Commodity Committees and General Committees
Terms of Reference of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene
Statements of Principle on the Role of Science in the Codex Decision-Making Process and the Extent to which Other Factors are Taken into Account: Criteria
89. The Commission agreed to add a new sub-section on General Criteria for the Selection of Methods of Analysis Using the Criteria Approach as proposed by the Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling.
90. The Commission also considered the proposal for a new section on Guidelines and Working Instructions to Aid the Implementation of the Criteria Approach. The Delegation of Sweden, referring to its written comments and supported by some delegations, proposed to simplify the text to make it more suitable for inclusion in the Procedural Manual. Other delegations indicated that in view of the highly technical nature of the document, more time was required to consider the amendments proposed and the specialized Committee should review them further. The Commission agreed that the revised text should be referred back to Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling for further consideration.
91. The Commission agreed to amend the section on "Normal Practice" to reflect the criteria approach as proposed.
92. The Commission adopted the revised Terms of Reference as amended by the Committee on General Principles.
93. Many delegations and observers expressed their support for the adoption of the criteria as this represented a significant progress and completed the mandate given by the Commission to the Committee on General Principles in 1997 in order to clarify the Statements of Principle.
94. The Commission discussed whether paragraph 7 referring to the recommendations of other international organizations should be retained. Many delegations and some observers proposed to delete this reference and stressed that the work of the Commission should be carried out according to its own mandate and objectives. Although coordination with other organizations was necessary, Codex was the recognized reference under WTO as regards food safety and should not therefore depend on the decisions of other organizations which might have different mandates and membership. It was also pointed out that consistency between the decisions taken in different international organizations was the responsibility of member countries through coordination at the national level.
95. Other delegations and the observer from the International Association of Consumer Food Organizations supported the inclusion of this paragraph as Codex texts should be consistent with the agreements of other international organizations, especially in view of their status as a reference in international trade; this was essential to ensure the credibility of international organizations and consumer confidence.
96. Recognizing that there was no consensus on the inclusion of a reference to other organizations, the Commission agreed to delete paragraph 7.
97. The Commission discussed the need for a reference to the World Trade Organization and the WTO SPS and TBT Agreements in paragraph 9 concerning barriers to trade and agreed that the relevant text should be retained as a footnote.
98. The Commission adopted the other paragraphs without change and noted that the amended Criteria would be included in the Appendix to the Procedural Manual after the Statements of Principle.
