General
31. The Commission had before it a progress report on the activities of the Working Party on Standardization of Perishable Foodstuffs of the UNECE. The UNECE representative indicated that a standard for walnut kernels and a recommendation for dates would probably be adopted at the next session of the Working Party. He pointed out that the activities were entering a new phase, as standards had now been adopted for most fresh fruits and vegetables. The main new activities would be:
the revision of standards, the importance of which was increasing; the tasks consisted mainly in collecting information on the application of standards, assessing whether they meet trade requirements and amending them accordingly, and
the study of technical problems related to the application of standards and the maintenance of quality of perishable foodstuffs until delivery to the consumer. The Working Party did not intend to undertake studies for which various other international organizations were competent, but its role was primarily to promote cooperation at the European level. Among the priorities of the UNECE's activities was the development of European quality standards for intra-European trade, which were also intended to protect the interests of the consumer.
The UNECE Representative expressed the satisfaction of the UNECE at the excellent cooperation which existed between the UNECE and the Codex Alimentarius Commission and at the continued progress being made in the work of the two Joint Groups of Experts on the Standardization of Quick Frozen Foods and Fruit Juices.
32. The Commission was further informed that the UNECE had held several meetings for European countries to examine the possibility of coordinating the standardization policies on a European basis. These meetings had examined the work being undertaken on a national and international level in Europe, and in all probability the UNECE would establish priorities for future work. The Commission was informed that the Executive Secretary of the UNECE had consulted FAO/WHO and had been requested not to include food standards, additives, pesticides and related matters in his work programme, which related mainly to standards for industrial products, e.g. electrical, building and machinery items, so as to avoid any duplication with the work of the Commission.
33. The Commission had before it a report prepared by the Secretariat of the Council of Europe (Partial Agreement). The report dealt with the activities of its subsidiary bodies, Subcommittee on Poisonous Substances in Agriculture, Subcommittee for the Health Control of Foodstuffs, Working Party on Flavouring Substances, and Working Party on Packaging Materials.
34. The representative of the Council of Europe (Partial Agreement) drew attention to a number of developments in their work which had taken place since the document mentioned above had been prepared. The agricultural and non-agricultural use of pesticides, which might lead to some degree of contamination of the environment with the resultant risk of contaminating foodstuffs, was under study. This study would be considered by the Subcommittee on Poisonous Substances in Agriculture.
35. The Commission was also informed that the above mentioned Subcommittee had drafted a resolution in March 1971, setting out recommendations to governments regarding the classification of formulated pesticide products. The classification proposed was based on the toxicity of the formulations. The principles governing the classification of formulated pesticide products together with the guidelines for standardized labelling of these products, from a safety in use point of view, were expected to be issued in a revised booklet on this subject “Agricultural Pesticides” in 1973.
36. The Subcommittee on Health Control of Foodstuffs would continue its study of possible risks arising from the use of antibiotics. The use of hormones would also be considered by the Subcommittee.
37. The Commission was informed that the Working Party on Packaging Materials was elaborating general guidelines for the use of additives in and components of packaging materials intended for use in connection with foodstuffs. The Working Party was continuing the toxicological evaluation of substances used in packaging materials.
38. In connection with the Working Party on Flavouring Substances, the Commission noted that the “Report on Natural and Artificial Flavouring Substances” published in July 1970 had been circulated for comment to, amongst others, the Codex Committee on Food Additives, which had decided that the report should be made available to the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. The Working Party would start reviewing the above-mentioned report at its next session.
39. The delegate of Ghana expressed his appreciation for documentation which the Council of Europe (Partial Agreement) had made available. The delegate of New Zealand expressed interest in obtaining certain documentation from the Council of Europe concerning the work of the Subcommittee on Poisonous Substances in Agriculture. It was stated in reply that countries wishing to obtain documentation relating to the activities of the Council of Europe (Partial Agreement) could obtain such documentation on request from the Council's Secretariat.
40. In the absence of a representative of the OECD at the session, the Commission took note of the progress report which had been prepared by the Secretariat of the OECD summarizing the activities of the OECD in the field of standardization of fresh fruits and vegetables, and noted that this work was complementary to that of the Working Party on Standardization of Perishable Foodstuffs of the UNECE.
41. The Commission had before it a report setting out the objectives and main activities of ASMO including activities under way and planned in the field of food standards, standards for food packaging and labelling and services carried out by ASMO in support of standardization activities. The Commission noted that in December 1965, the Economic Council of the League of Arab States had approved an agreement for the creation of ASMO as an inter-governmental regional specialized agency.
42. The representative of ASMO stressed the role ASMO could play as an inter-sub-regional liaison organization in furthering the aims and objectives of the FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. The representative of ASMO also stressed the desirability of having the main documents of the Codex made available in Arabic. During the course of the discussions, it was noted that the programme of work for 1971/72 of the ASMO Technical Committee for Food Standards included consideration of draft recommendations for various products including honey. In this connection, the delegate of New Zealand stated that some countries had reservations about the Recommended European Regional Standard for Honey (paragraph 238 of the Report of the 7th Session of the Commission) and suggested to the representative of ASMO that ASMO might wish to take these reservations into account in considering its draft recommendation for honey.
43. The representative of ASMO laid emphasis on the need for close cooperation between his Organization and FAO/WHO regarding food standards and allied fields and thought that it would be desirable to envisage the creation of joint workshops and seminars with FAO/WHO in these fields. The Commission took note of the wish expressed by the representative of ASMO and was pleased to note that ASMO was playing a coordinating role in its own region in the food standards field, and in promoting interest in the activities and objectives of the Commission.
44. The Commission noted that the Recommended International Standard for Olive Oil, Virgin and Refined, and for Refined Residue Oil had been distributed by the Secretariat of the IOOC to all Member Governments of the Council drawing their attention to the importance of accepting the standard in accordance with the Procedure for the acceptance of Codex commodity standards. The IOOC had drawn attention to the view expressed by a number of experts participating in the work of the IOOC concerning the method which had been endorsed by the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling for the determination of alpha-cocopherol in olive oils. The Commission agreed that it would deal with this matter when it came to consider the report of the 6th session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling. 1
45. The attention of the Commission was also drawn to a proposal of the IOOC concerning future work on the proposed draft standard for table olives, and the Commission agreed to deal with this matter when it came to consider the report of the Seventh Session of the Codex Committee on Processed Fruits and Vegetables. 2
46. The Commission had before it a report on the state of work of the EEC in the field of harmonization of food standards, prepared by the Secretariat of the EEC. The report set out in summary form, the state of work on harmonization of legislation in respect of (i) general regulations, (ii) food additives and (iii) commodities or commodity groups.
1 See paragraphs 181 and 182.
2 See paragraph 245.
47. In the course of reviewing the progress report, the representative of the EEC indicated, with regard to the section of the report on food additives, that antioxidants should be moved from subsection 2.2 to subsection 2.1 of the report, as there were regulations in force applicable to antioxidants. As regards subsection 3.1 of the progress report, the Commission noted the remarks of the representative of the EEC that proposals relating to cocoa and chocolate, fruit juices and sugars were expected to be implemented shortly.
48. The Commission was pleased to note that the proposals relating to sugars were based on the Recommended Codex Standards for sugars.
49. As regards subsection 3.2 of the progress report, the Commission noted the statement of the representative of the EEC that proposals relating to canned milk, honey, soft drinks, mineral waters, edible ices and beer had been sent to the Council of Ministers for decision. The Commission was pleased to note the statement of the EEC that the proposal relating to honey was based on the Recommended Codex European Regional Standard for Honey.
50. The delegate of The Netherlands drew attention to proposed EEC regulations relating to pesticide residues. The Commission agreed that it attached great importance to the work of the EEC in the field of harmonization of food legislation and standards and was pleased to note the statement of the representative of the EEC that as far as possible in carrying out this task the results of the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission would be taken into account, or would serve as a basis for their proposals.
51. The representative of the EEC stated that his Organization attached particular importance to the work of the Commission, but pointed out that the EEC had naturally to follow its own procedures.
52. The Commission had before it a report prepared by the Secretariat of Technical Committee 34 of ISO. The representative of ISO briefly reviewed the contents of the report which set out the activities and future work programme of ISO/TC 34 in the field of methods of testing and sampling of various agricultural products. The Representative of ISO drew attention to the fact that the activities of ISO, together with its future work programme were set out in considerable detail in the report which had been furnished to the Commission. In its work, ISO was paying special attention to agricultural products which were of significance in international trade.
53. The representative of ISO stated that his Organization was pleased at the excellent cooperation between the Secretariat of ISO/TC 34 and the Secretariat of the Commission and that there was no duplication of work as between the two Organizations. The Commission noted that delegations which wished to have further details of the work of ISO should communicate with the Hungarian Secretariat of ISO/TC 34.
54. A number of delegates drew attention, with a view to avoiding duplication of work, to the desirability of the Secretariat preparing a synopsis of work being done by other international organizations in the food standards and related fields, along the lines of that which had been prepared for the 1962 Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Conference. The Commission agreed that the Secretariat should submit a report in this connection to the Executive Committee at its next session. The Executive Committee would decide whether the Secretariat should proceed to prepare such a synopsis and would also determine its scope and form of presentation.
