51 ALINORM 05/28/9; CAC/28 INF 15
105. The Commission noted the Codex budget proposal for 2006–2007 as contained in Table 1 of the working document. The Secretariat drew attention of the Commission to the fact that the budget proposal was based on the Zero Real Growth (ZRG) scenario of FAO, one of the budgetary scenarios to be discussed by the FAO governing bodies, including the FAO Conference in November 2005. If the ZRG budget proposal was approved by the FAO Conference, Codex would be able to basically maintain the same level of activities as in the 20042005 biennium by making some further cost savings.
106. The Commission also noted a report of FAO/WHO budgets for scientific support to Codex, prepared by FAO and WHO, presented as an information document in response to the request of the 54th Session of the Executive Committee52.
107. The Representative of FAO called the attention of the Commission to the effort made by FAO governing bodies to assign high priority to the provision of scientific advice to Codex by increasing the funds allocated to these activities from the regular budget. The Representative also referred to the FAO activities designed to assist developing countries in enhancing their capacity to participate more effectively in Codex work.
108. The Representative of WHO informed the Commission that the budget contribution to Codex from WHO regular budget in 2004–2005 had increased 26% compared to that in 2002–2003, similarly to FAO, pursuant to the outcome of Codex Evaluation which highlighted the importance of the Codex activities for human health. With respect to the WHO budget for the provision of scientific advice, the Representative indicated that WHO had given higher priority to promoting expert advice regarding food derived from biotechnology and microbiological risk assessment in foods.
109. Many delegations expressed their serious concern on WHO's budgetary outlook for the activities related to the provision of scientific advice during the next biennium, with particular reference to JECFA, JMPR and JEMRA. Members and observers unanimously stated that high priority should be given by parent organizations to Codex and Codex-related activities and that these activities should be fully protected from any budget cuts. FAO and WHO should finance these activities at a level that meets the demand of Codex members, primarily through the regular budgets rather than using extra-budgetary resources.
110. In response to the concern expressed by many delegations, the Representative of WHO urged members to enhance coordination between different ministries and departments at the national level, with a view to raising this issue in the governing bodies of WHO so that the latter could recognize the current problem and take appropriate action to address it.
111. The Commission noted the views expressed by several delegations from developing countries that the translation of Codex documents should be made available in a timely manner so that member countries could fully prepare themselves for deliberations of Codex sessions, and that due attention should be paid to those countries whose infrastructure would not allow for receiving Codex documents only through electronic means.
53 ALINORM 05/28/9B, CAC/28 LIM 24 (comments of European Community)
112. The Commission recalled that its 27th Session had agreed to initiate the preparation for a new Strategic Plan for the period 2008–201354 and that the 55th Session of the Executive Committee had discussed the structure and format of the Plan as well as ways to further proceed with the development of the Plan.
54 ALINORM 04/27/41 paras 120–123
113. The Commission noted of the recommendation of the 55th Session of the Executive Committee55, as follows:
A new Strategic Plan would comprise three parts: the first part (Part 1) broadly stating Commission-wide objectives, the second part (Part 2) listing achievable outputs covering the areas for priority action by subsidiary bodies and the third part (Part 3) setting out the working timetables by subsidiary bodies with the indication of a timeframe for each of the activities being undertaken, planned frequency of meetings of the subsidiary body as well as relevance to the outputs defined in Part 2;
The third part of the Plan should be regularly updated with appropriate input from the subsidiary bodies and be organized in such way to facilitate the standards management function of the Executive Committee; and
The draft Plan to be prepared by the Executive Committee be submitted, after review by Codex Committees and Coordinating Committees as appropriate, to the Commission for final adoption by 2007.
114. The Commission noted that a Circular Letter56had been sent to solicit early inputs from Codex Members and observers, with the deadline of 10 July 2005.
115. The Delegation of the United States strongly supported the endorsement of the suggested structure of and the course of action for the preparation of the Plan, given the significant thrust the plan would give to the work of the Commission.
116. The Delegation of the United Kingdom, speaking on behalf of the Member States of the European Community, supported the recommendation of the Executive Committee regarding the proposed structure and timeline for the preparation of the Plan and stated that the new Strategic Plan should take into consideration capacity of FAO and WHO to provide scientific advice in support of Codex, the strengthening of cooperation
with other international standard-setting organizations and the need for demarcation of work between Codex and relevant international organizations.
117. The Commission endorsed the proposed structure of and the timeline for the preparation of the Strategic Plan 2008–2013. It was also agreed that a working Group comprising the Chairperson and three Vice Chairpersons of the Commission would meet in September 2005 in order to prepare a preliminary draft of the Strategic Plan 2008–2013 to be presented to the 57th Session of the Executive Committee, taking into accounts the comments received from members and observers.
57ALINORM 05/28/8B, CAC/28 LIM 24 (comments of European Community)
118. The Commission considered the tentative schedule that had been established taking into account the decision of the 26th Commission to hold one meeting of the Commission and two meetings of the Executive Committee per year, and the information provided by host countries of Codex Committees and Task Forces. The Commission noted the changes in the dates and venues proposed by some host countries and noted that some further changes might be made to the schedule.
119. The Delegation of the United Kingdom, speaking on behalf of the Member States of the European Community, commented that there was a concentration of meetings in the period March–May and asked if the Secretariat and the host countries could try to spread these meetings more evenly over the year.
120. The Commission endorsed the schedule of meetings with the understanding that it would be distributed as an information document after further confirmation of the date and place of Codex sessions and would be updated on the Codex website on an ongoing basis.
58ALINORM 05/28/9C Part I , ALINORM 05/28/3A, paras. 30-49
General Implementation Status
121. The Commission noted the status of the implementation of the recommendations of the Evaluation and discussed whether some recommendations required further action, or a confirmation of earlier decisions.
Proposal 12 - Participation of Observers in the Executive Committee
122. The Commission recalled that the Committee on General Principles had agreed not to proceed with the consideration of the active participation of Observers in the Executive Committee, but to consider the possibilities of publicizing the proceedings using Internet facilities. The Secretariat informed the Commission that it was currently studying the feasibility of making the audio recording of the proceedings of the Commission available on the Codex website on an experimental basis. When all financial and practical aspects had been solved, the extension of these arrangements to the recording of the Executive Committee's proceedings could be considered.
Proposal 19 - Use of Facilitators
123. The Commission supported the conclusion of the 21stSession of the Committee on General Principles that Committees consider the use of facilitators on an experimental basis.
Proposal 32 - Co-chairmanship
124. The Commission agreed that co-chairmanship should be tested on a case-by-case basis and encouraged committees to consider this practice. The Commission noted some positive outcomes of co-chairmanship experienced at the latest session of the Committee on Food Hygiene (co-hosted by the United States and Argentina) and of the Committee on Fish and Fishery products (co-hosted by Norway and South Africa).
Proposal 34 - Determination of Consensus
125. The Delegation of Chile, supported by other delegations, expressed the view that further consideration should be given to the definition of the term “consensus” as it was essential to facilitate decisions and to ensure consistency in the decision process. The Commission noted that the 22nd Session of the Committee on General Principles had agreed to consider proposals from the Delegation of India that included the definition of consensus at its next session.
Proposal 35 - Conduct of Meetings: Reports
Proposal 36 - Country Groupings
126. As proposed by the Executive Committee, the Commission agreed that no further revision was recommended to the Procedural Manual.
Other Decisions of the 26th Session of the Commission (Table 2)
127. The Commission considered the proposals in Table 2 of the working document concerning other recommendations of the 26th Session of the Commission related to the Evaluation. The Commission agreed that, since the abolition of the Acceptance Procedure had been decided at the present session, the Committee on General Principles should undertake the review of the three other sections of the Procedural Manual mentioned in Table 2, on the basis of a document to be prepared by the Secretariat at its next session.
Review of the Regional Coordinating Committees
128. The Commission recalled that, following the recommendations of the 27th Session of the Commission, a Circular Letter had been distributed to Codex members to invite comments on the role and relevance of Regional Coordinating Committees, that were subsequently discussed in all Coordinating Committees. The Commission considered the working document that included a brief summary of the Coordinating Committees' deliberations and proposals for consideration by the Commission, and the recommendations of the Executive Committee.
Role of Regional Coordinating Committees in furthering the objectives of the Codex Alimentarius Commission
129. The Commission agreed to reassert the important role the Coordinating Committees play in furthering the objectives of the Commission and encourage countries to participate more actively and effectively in the work of Coordinating Committees. The Commission further agreed to encourage Coordinating Committees to consider any particular items regarding problems arising from food control, food safety concerns and approaches for strengthening food regulatory systems, in accordance with the terms of reference of the Committees and preferably in consultation of the Regional Offices of FAO and WHO.
Terms of reference of the Regional Coordinating Committees as set out in the Procedural Manual, including the relevance of developing regional standards
130. The Commission noted that the Coordinating Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean had proposed to amend its mandate to include “the adoption of regional positions on strategic subjects”. The Delegation of India, supported by some delegations, expressed the view that the proposed amendment extended to the mandate of all other Coordinating Committees, pointing out that this was not in any way a contradiction to the existing mandate, but only a more precise expression of the same. Other delegations pointed out that further clarification should be required as to the implications of such an amendment, and that the proposal was already covered by the current terms of reference. The Commission therefore agreed to refer the proposed amendment to the terms of reference of the CCLAC and its possible extension to the other Coordinating Committees to the Committee on General Principles for further consideration.
131. The Commission agreed that Coordinating Committees were invited to keep under review their programme of work, taking into account priorities of Committees' work.
Membership of Regional Coordinating Committees, including their current geographic coverage
132. The Commission agreed that no further action needed to be taken on this matter.
Effectiveness of Regional Coordinating Committees in respect of country participation record and of venues and meeting intervals
133. The Commission agreed to retain the current periodicity of meetings of Coordinating Committees and invited Coordinating Committees to consider the use of complementary mechanisms which would improve regional and/or sub-regional communication and coordination.
Respective roles of the Regional Coordinator as ex officio Chairperson of the Regional Coordinating Committee and the Member(s) of the Executive Committee elected on a geographic basis
134. The Commission recognized the need for clarification of the respective roles of the Coordinator and the Member elected on a geographical basis, especially in view of the new status of the Coordinator as Member of the Executive Committee. The Commission therefore agreed to recommend that the Committee on General Principles consider this issue at its next session and develop proposals for consideration by the 29th Session of the Commission.
Any other issues
135. The Commission agreed to encourage Regional Coordinators, FAO and WHO to consider organizing relevant regional events such as seminars or workshops in conjunction with the sessions of Coordinating Committees.
