Dr. Ralph W. PHILLIPS
FAO/WHO CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION
Twelfth Session, 17–28 April, Plenary Hall
FAO
9,30 a.m. Monday, 17 April 1978
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have great pleasure in welcoming you to Rome on behalf of the Directors-General of FAO and WHO. Since your last session two more countries - the Republic of Guinea and the Republic of Chad - have become members of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, bringing the current membership to 116 countries. This large membership indicates the sustained and, indeed, growing interest of the Member Nations of FAO and WHO in the work of the Commission. May I take this opportunity to welcome particularly the representatives of the new Members of the Commission and also those participating in a session of the Commission for the first time.
Since the last session of the Commission Member Governments have continued to accept a steadily increasing number of the Recommended Codex International Food Standards and the Recommended Codex International Maximum Limits for Pesticide Residues. From the documents before the Commission concerning acceptance and action taken or being taken by Governments in regard to these, you will see that some 55 countries have now communicated their acceptance of a number of the international standards, including international pesticide residue limits, with a view to giving effect to these through their food legislation and regualtions. You will also have noted with interest, I am sure, the communication from the Council of the European Communities indicating that the European Economic Community, on the one hand, and its Member States on the other, have severally decided to accept with certain specified deviations a number of the Recommended Codex Standards for sugars. The Code of Principles for Milk and Milk Products has been accepted by 72 countries and an increasing number of acceptances are being given to the many standards developed under the Code. The number of acceptances for some of the basic milk product standards ranges from 45 to 65.
Although acceptances continue to be received and are on the increase, more progress needs to be made in this area. I hope, therefore, that delegates will be able to provide during the session information on developments in their countries regarding acceptances of the standards and the international maximum limits for pesticide residues. Since your last session many other international standards and additional maximum limits for pesticide residues have been developed and these will be submitted to the present session of the Commission. Most of these will, we hope, be adopted for issue to Governments for acceptance and implementation in their national legislation and regulations.
The aims of the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, namely the protection of consumers against possible health hazards in food and against commercial fraud, the ensuring of fair practices in the food trade, the promotion of the food industry and international trade by removing certain obstacles to trade in foods and stimulating opportunities to increase earnings from exports, are all matters of great interest to our Member Countries and are matters calling for the continuing support of FAO and WHO. The meetings of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and its subsidiary bodies provide worldwide and regional fora for discussions of these matters and for arriving at solutions that have a wide measure of general acceptability. Its international standards and codes of practice together with other recommendations in the health field represent the end - product of a considerable investment of scientific, technical and legal knowledge, intergovernmental negotiation, and consultation among the representatives of governments, consumers and industry.
The work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission is for the benefit of all the Member Nations of FAO and WHO. Some Member Nations are, however, less well equipped than others to derive full benefit from the work of the Commission. These less well equipped countries need technical advice and assistance to enable them to strengthen their capabilities to ensure better food control, quality and safety, and to implement, as far as feasible in their own circumstances, the Commission's recommendations. WHO, through its food safety activities and FAO through its projects on food control and consumer protection play a very important role in providing such assistance, which is complementary to and furthers the work of the Commission. I do not propose, Mr. Chairman, to go into any detail regarding these important complementary activities of FAO and WHO, as during the course of the session you will be hearing about these and other activities of the two Organizations which have relevance for the work of the Commission.
It is particularly gratifying to note, more especially as the FAO Conference at its 19th Session in November 1977 agreed that the Commission should concentrate more on the needs and concerns of developing countries, that the trend, already in evidence for several years, of the Commission turning its attention more and more to the needs of developing countries continues. Since the last session of the Commission, the Coordinating Committee for Asia held its first session in January 1978 in New Delhi. The session was kindly hosted by the Government of India. The work of the Committee seems to have gotten off to a very good start. As will be seen from its report, the Committee had extensive discussions on and gave very careful attention to how best to serve the interests of the region. It drew up a comprehensive programme of future work and outlined its priorities.
The third session of the Coordinating Committee for Africa was held in Accra in September 1977 and was kindly hosted by the Government of Ghana. The Committee appears to be making good progress in its work, particularly in advancing the use of the Model Food Law in the region, in its review of food control facilities in the region and of products of interest to the region from a standardization point of view.
Arrangements are, I understand, now well in hand for the holding of a Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Regional Conference for Latin America in September of this year, which the Government of Mexico has kindly agreed to host. This is the Third Regional Conference of its type, the first - a Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Regional Conference for Africa - was held in Nairobi in October 1973 and generously hosted by the Government of Kenya, and the second - a Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Regional Conference for Asia - was held in Bangkok in December 1975, kindly hosted by the Government of Thailand.
The Coordinating Committee for Latin America has held one session to date, immediately prior to the last session of the Commission. Although it was a brief session, it was a very important one because the Coordinating Committee discussed the organization of its work and priorities and decided on the subject matter to be considered at the forthcoming Food Standards Conference for Latin America. This Coordinating Committee can be expected to carry forward and further develop, on a continuing basis, the conclusions and recommendations of the Food Standards Conference.
All these developments are intended to provide intergovernmental fora for greater and more active participation by developing countries in the work of the Commission, and directed principally to food legislation, food control and food safety needs of Africa, Asia and Latin America. I think, Mr. Chairman, that I ought to mention, whilst on the topic of the Commission turning its attention increasingly to the needs of developing countries, that, in fact, several of the long established Codex Committees, have, for some years, been developing standards and codes of practice of particular interest to a considerable number of developing countries. The Codex Committees on Food Hygiene, Fats and Oils, Fish and Fishery Products, and Processed Fruits and Vegetables are examples of this. A topic of very great importance to developing countries will be the development of the “Code of Ethics for the International Trade in Food” which is currently with governments for their comments and will be examined in the light of these comments by the Codex Committee on General Principles at its next session.
Mr. Chairman, the Commission has a heavy agenda before it and I do not wish to delay the proceedings. I might mention, however, that one of the items of your agenda is a review of the direction of the work of the Commission. It is a very healthy sign indeed that the Commission, on the advice of its Executive Committee, should review its work to see whether all of it still responds adequately to the present needs of Member Governments and to consider whether some shifts in emphasis or changes in priorities might be needed. It is a sign that the Executive Committee sees the Commission's role as being essentially dynamic and certainly not static, and I believe you will find this reflected in the paper on this subject prepared by the Secretariat.
A clear indication of the significance and importance attached to the activities of the Commission is the fact that the FAO Council, at its 71st Session in June 1977, had a very full discussion on the food standards work of the Commission. The discussion was not without its controversial aspects and the matter was, as you know, referred by the Council to the Commission and its Executive Committee for further consideration. The views of the Executive Committee are before you and, in accordance with the wish of the Council, you are asked to consider the different proposals and points raised during the Council discussion and to report your views on them to the Director-General, so as to enable him to report to the Autumn Session of the Council in 1978 and to the Conference in 1979.
Before closing I should like to make two additional points.
First, let me take this opportunity to express the appreciation of FAO and WHO to those Governments which have so generously hosted sessions of the Commission's subsidiary bodies since the last session of the Commission.
Second, I should like to inject a brief personal note. I am particularly pleased to be able to meet with you at the opening of this - the Twelfth - Session of the Commission, in my new capacity as Deputy Director - General of FAO, because I have been associated in various capacities with the Commission's work from its early begining. I had occasion last week to look back at the verbatim records of the FAO Conference in 1961, when the Conference took the formal action, on the FAO side, to establish the Commission. I was reminded that, at that time, I made the statement for my Government, supporting the establishment of the Commission and the adoption of the pertinent Resolution. So I can claim a rather long-standing association with Codex Alimentarius activities.
Now, it only remains for me to wish you all a pleasant stay in Rome, and a most successful session of the Commission.
