(New text and numbering appear in bold)
RULE III. OFFICERS
1. The Commission shall elect a Chairperson and three Vice-Chairpersons from among the representatives, alternates and advisers (hereinafter referred to as “delegates”) of the Members of the Commission; it being understood that no delegate shall be eligible without the concurrence of the head of his delegation. They shall be elected at each session and shall hold office from the end of the session at which they were elected until the end of the following regular session. The Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons may remain in office only with the continuing endorsement of the respective Member of the Commission of which they were a delegate at the time of election. The Directors-General of FAO and WHO shall declare a position vacant when advised by the Member of the Commission that such endorsement has ceased. The Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons shall be eligible for re-election but after having served two consecutive terms shall be ineligible to hold such office for the next succeeding term.
2. The Chairperson, or in his absence a Vice-Chairperson, shall preside at meetings of the Commission and exercise such other function as may be required to facilitate the work of the Commission. A Vice-Chairperson acting as Chairperson shall have the same powers and duties as the Chairperson.
3. When neither the Chairperson nor the Vice-Chairperson are able to serve and, on the request of the outgoing Chairperson, during elections for the Chairperson, the Directors-General of FAO and WHO shall appoint a staff member to act as Chairperson, until either a temporary Chairperson or a new Chairperson has been elected. Any temporary Chairperson so elected shall hold office until the Chairperson or one of the Vice-Chairpersons is able to serve again.
4. The Commission may appoint one or more rapporteurs from among the delegates of the Members of the Commission.
5. The Directors-General of FAO and WHO shall be requested to appoint from the staffs of their organizations a Secretary of the Commission and such other officials, likewise responsible to them, as may be necessary to assist the officers and the Secretary in performing all duties that the work of the Commission may require.
RULE IV. COORDINATORS
1. The Commission may appoint a Coordinator from among the Members of the Commission for any of the geographic locations enumerated in Rule V.1 (hereinafter referred to as “regions”) or for any group of countries specifically enumerated by the Commission (hereinafter referred to as ‘groups of countries’), whenever it may find, on the basis of a proposal of a majority of the Members of the Commission which constitute the region or group, that work for the Codex Alimentarius in the countries concerned so requires.
2. Appointment of Coordinators shall be made exclusively on the proposal of a majority of the Members of the Commission which constitute the region or group of countries concerned. Coordinators shall hold office from the end of the session of the Commission at which they were appointed until not later than the end of the third succeeding regular session, the precise term being determined by the Commission in each instance. After having served two consecutive terms, the Coordinators shall be ineligible to hold such office for the next succeeding term.
3. The functions of the Coordinators shall be:
to assist and coordinate the work of the Codex Committees set up under Rule XI.1(b)(i)1 in their region or group of countries in the preparation of draft standards, guidelines and other recommendations for submission to the Commission;
to assist the Executive Committee and the Commission, as required, by advising them of the views of countries and recognized regional intergovernmental and non-government organizations in their respective regions on matters under discussion or of interest.
(d) In order to carry out their functions, Coordinators shall participate in the Executive Committee as Observers
RULE V. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE2
2 Rule IV in the 14th Edition of the Procedural Manual.
1. The Executive Committee shall consist of the Chairperson and the Vice-Chairpersons of the Commission, and the Coordinators appointed on the basis of Rule IV together with seven further Members elected by the Commission at regular sessions from among the Members of the Commission, one each coming from the following geographic locations: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Near East, North America, South-West Pacific. Not more than one delegate from any one country shall be a member of the Executive Committee. Members elected on a geographic basis shall hold office from the end of the session of the Commission at which they were elected until the end of the second succeeding regular session and shall be eligible for re-election, but after having served two consecutive terms shall be ineligible to hold such office for the next succeeding term.
2. The Executive Committee shall, between sessions of the Commission, act on behalf of the Commission as its executive organ. In particular, the Executive Committee may make proposals to the Commission regarding general orientation, strategic planning, and programming of the work of the Commission, study special problems and shall assist in the management of the Commission's programme of standards development, namely by conducting a critical review of proposals to undertake work and monitoring the progress of standards development.
3. The Executive Committee shall consider specific matters referred to it by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO as well as the estimate of expenditure for the Commission's proposed programme of work as described in Rule XIII.13.
3 Rule XII.1 in the 14thEdition of the Procedural Manual
4. The Executive Committee may establish such sub-committees from among its Members as it may deem necessary to enable it to exercise its functions as effectively as possible. Such subcommittees should be limited in numbers, carry out preparatory work and report to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall appoint one of the Vice-Chairpersons of the Commission to serve as chairpersons of any such sub-committee. Consideration should be given to an appropriate geographical balance in the membership of sub-committees.
5. The Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons of the Commission shall be respectively the Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons of the Executive Committee.
6. Sessions of the Executive Committee may be convened as often as necessary by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO, in consultation with the Chairperson. The Executive Committee shall normally meet immediately prior to each session of the Commission.
7. The Executive Committee shall report to the Commission.
RULE XIII. BUDGET AND EXPENSES4
4 Rule XII in the 14th Edition of the Procedural Manual.
1. The Directors-General of FAO and WHO shall prepare for consideration by the Commission at its regular sessions an estimate of expenditure based on the proposed programme of work of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies, together with information concerning expenditures for the previous financial period. This estimate, with such modifications as may be considered appropriate by the Directors-General in the light of recommendations made by the Commission, shall subsequently be incorporated in the Regular Budgets of the two Organizations for approval by the appropriate governing bodies.
2. The estimate of expenditure shall make provisions for the operating expenses of the Commission and the subsidiary bodies of the Commission established under Rule XI.1(a) and XI.1(b)(ii)5and for the expenses relating to staff assigned to the Programme and other expenditures incurred in connection with the servicing of the latter.
3. The estimate of expenditure shall make provision for the travel expenses (including a daily subsistence allowance) of members of the Executive Committee from developing countries for the purpose of participating in meetings of the Executive Committee.
4. The operating costs of subsidiary bodies established under Rule XI.1(b)(i)5 (Codex Committees) shall be borne by each Member accepting the Chair of such a body. The estimate of expenditure may include a provision for such costs involved in preparatory work as may be recognized as operating expenses of the Commission in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 of the Statutes of the Commission.
5 Rule X.1(a) and X.1 (b) in the 14th Edition of the Procedural Manual.
5. Except as provided for in Rule XIII. 3, the estimate of expenditure shall make no provision for expenses, including travel, incurred by delegations of the Members of the Commission or of observers referred to in Rule IX6, in connection with their attendance at sessions of the Commission or its subsidiary bodies. Should experts be invited by the Directors-General of FAO or WHO to attend sessions of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies in their individual capacity, their expenses shall be borne out of the regular budgetary funds available for the work of the Commission.
6 Rule VIII in the 14thEdition of the Procedural Manual.
Consequential Amendments to the Rules of Procedure
Rule × Subsidiary Bodies
[1. – 4.]
5. Subsidiary bodies may only be established by the Commission except where otherwise provided in these Rules. Their terms of reference and reporting procedures shall be determined by the Commission, except where otherwise provided in these Rules.
[6. – 9.]
10. The Members who shall be responsible for appointing Chairpersons of subsidiary bodies established under Rule X.1(b)(i) and Rule X.1(b)(ii) shall be designated at each session by the Commission, except where otherwise provided in these Rules, and shall be eligible for re-designation. All other officers of subsidiary bodies shall be elected by the body concerned and shall be eligible for re-election.
[11.]
RULE V. SESSIONS
New Paragraph 5
In plenary meetings of the Commission, the representative of a Member may designate an alternate who shall have the right to speak and vote in the name of his or her delegation on any question. Moreover, upon the request of the representative or any alternate so designated, the Chairperson may allow an adviser to speak on any particular point.
(Current paragraphs 5 and 6 shall be renumbered accordingly)
RULE VIII. OBSERVERS
[1. – 4.]
5. Participation of intergovernmental organizations in the work of the Commission and the relations between the Commission and such organizations shall be governed by the relevant provisions of the Constitutions of FAO or WHO, as well as by the applicable regulations of FAO or WHO on relations with intergovernmental organizations; such relations shall be handled by the Director-General of FAO or WHO, as appropriate.
6. Participation of international non-governmental organizations in the work of the Commission and the relations between the Commission and such organizations shall be governed by the relevant provisions of the Constitution of FAO or WHO, as well as by applicable regulations of FAO or WHO on relations with international non-governmental organizations. Such relations shall be handled by the Director-General of FAO or WHO, as appropriate, on the advice of the Executive Committee. The Commission shall develop and keep under review principles and criteria concerning the participation of international non-governmental organizations in its work, consistent with the applicable regulations of FAO or WHO.
ARTICLE 1
The Codex Alimentarius Commission shall, subject to Article 5 below, be responsible for making proposals to, and shall be consulted by, the Directors-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) on all matters pertaining to the implementation of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme, the purpose of which is:
protecting the health of the consumers and ensuring fair practices in the food trade;
promoting coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international governmental and non governmental organizations;
determining priorities and initiating and guiding the preparation of draft standards through and with the aid of appropriate organizations;
finalizing standards elaborated under (c) above and, after acceptance by governments, publishing them in a Codex Alimentarius either as regional or world wide standards, together with international standards already finalized by other bodies under (b) above, wherever this is practicable;
amending published standards, as after appropriate, survey in the light of developments.
