87. The Commission considered document ALINORM 71/17 in the light of the recommendations made by the Executive Committee at its 16th Session. The Commission expressed its appreciation for the work which the Danish National Codex Committee had done in connection with the proposed statistical sampling plans and noted that a Danish paper on this subject had been distributed to Codex Contact Points and participants in the meetings of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling.
88. A proposal was made by the delegate of the Federal Republic of Germany, supported by other delegations, to collect various sampling plans and information on their practical application in order to develop a Code of Practice for Sampling. This Code should also contain a general chapter describing the various purposes of sampling and sampling plans. Several delegates emphasized the need to clarify the role of the sampling plans in Codex standards. The Commission agreed therefore that an explanatory section should be prepared by the Secretariat to indicate the role of the sampling plans in connection with the Codex Alimentarius. The Commission also agreed that a special session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling, attended both by statisticians and specialists in food inspection, would be desirable, but that it would be premature to hold such a session until experience had been gained in the use of sampling plans and the work being done by the ISO on the technical procedures for sampling and definitions of terms used in sampling had been finalized. The delegation of Cuba maintained its position in favour of the publication of the Sampling Plans as a Recommended Code of Practice which should harmonize the requirements of the consumer and the possibilities of the producer in international trade relations, through acceptable quality levels and non-acceptable quality levels or tolerances for permitted defects.
89. A number of delegates stressed that further experience was needed as regards the application of the sampling plans to prepackaged food, to foods in bulk, to different types of foods and to different criteria, in particular criteria involving health aspects such as food additives, pesticides residues and the presence of pathogenic microorganisms. 1 The delegate of India pointed out that the generalization of sampling plans might not be practicable, in view of wider tolerances required for certain commodities. The Commission noted that it was the intention of the Codex Committee of Food Labelling to consider at its next session the principles behind the setting out of statistical sampling plans for the measurement of net contents, with a view to the possible development of such plans in consultation with the Codex Commodity Committees involved.
1 See also paragraph 72 of this Report.
90. The Commission agreed with the following recommendations of the Executive Committee:
“Sampling
27. The Executive committee had before it a paper prepared by the Secretariat dealing with the Sampling Plans for Processed Fruits and Vegetables elaborated by the Codex Committee on Processed Fruits and Vegetables, as well as the question of sampling as a whole. The Executive Committee noted that a number of Codex Commodity Committees had included provisions for defective units in their standards and had applied the Sampling Plans (AQL-6.5, probability 95%, ALINORM 69/27) to these defectives as defined in the standards. It was noted that the primary task of adopting desirable sampling plans was the responsibility of the Codex Committee which developed the product standard. It also noted that the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling was considering a document dealing with technical procedures for sample taking. The Executive Committee considered that international agreement on sampling plans was important in order to achieve uniform enforcement of a standard, but that it was a refinement which might not require immediate attention. The Executive Committee noted that ISO had developed a layout setting out a programme of work in the field of sampling as well as a vocabulary of terms used in sampling, but that detailed sampling procedures would still have to be elaborated. The Executive Committee also noted that there was no duplication between the ISO work on sampling techniques and Codex work on statistical sampling plans.
28. The Executive Committee agreed that the Sampling Plans be published under the title Sampling Plans for Prepackaged Foods after appropriate editorial changes. It was understood that the Sampling Plans would not have the status of a mandatory text except insofar as they were attracted to appropriately defined ‘defectives’ in Codex standards. In this respect it was necessary to rewrite the ‘scope’ section to make this fact clear but, at the same time, describe the nature of the attributes for which the Sampling Plans would be suitable.
29. It was pointed out that the Codex Commodity Committees should give due consideration to the classification (definition) of ‘defectives’ and to the selection of appropriate acceptable quality levels (AQL) before considering the application of the above Sampling Plans or other types of sampling plans. The Executive Committee noted that a whole range of sampling plans was available with AQLs ranging from less than 0.1 to above 25 and that these would be made available to Codex Commodity Committees on request.
30. It was agreed that there would be no need to employ a consultant for the time being and that the holding of a special session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling did not appear to be necessary until ISO had developed further detailed texts for examination by the above Committee. Meanwhile, those Codex Commodity Committees which had decided to include provisions for ‘defectives’ or other criteria in their standards which required the establishment of an AQL, should examine thoroughly the existing Sampling Plans (AQL-6.5) or any other sampling plans which were appropriate.”
