86 ALINORM 05/28/9F, CAC/28 INF 12
214. The Commission, noting the 2004 annual report of the Trust Fund and the information paper incorporating the Fifth Progress Report prepared by FAO and WHO, expressed its appreciation to the progress made in the operation of the Fund, to the efforts being made FAO and WHO and to the donors making financial contributions. The Commission encouraged current donors to continue to provide funds to the Trust Fund and invited other countries to consider contributing to the Fund in order to ensure its sustainability.
215. Some members expressed their wish that the Trust Fund be also used to assist other activities of importance at the regional level, including capacity building, training and workshops, with particular reference to the strengthening of Codex Contact Points and National Codex Committees. Other members stressed that the Trust Fund should be used exclusively for assisting the participation of developing countries to Codex meetings, including the meetings of working groups. The Delegation of Switzerland proposed to enlarge this agenda item in the future, and noted that a list of contributions for the Trust Fund and other items would help to imply priorities and to motivate potential donors.
216. Some members stated that the criteria for determining the groupings of beneficiary countries should be reconsidered. Some members further proposed to develop guidelines for the operation of the Trust Fund, in order to make the process more transparent.
217. In reply to these questions, the Representative of WHO clarified that the Trust Fund had been designed to ensure effective participation of developing countries in Codex work and that training activities would also be covered by the Trust Fund, as per specific requests of some donors to this effect. The Representative indicated that capacity building projects should in general be funded by other resources such as STDF operated by several international organizations including FAO and WHO, but not by the Codex Trust Fund.
218. The Commission noted that an information meeting on the Trust Fund convened by FAO and WHO on 8 July and open to all delegates would provide an opportunity to exchange views among countries and with the trust fund secretariat and assist in solving certain administrative and logistic problems that had emerged from the operation of the Trust Fund.
