OTHER BUSINESS
(a) Terms of Reference of the Committee/Coordination with Other Codex Committees
55. The Committee noted that while at its 18th Session it had agreed on the proposal of the Codex Committee on General Principles (CCGP) to amend the Terms of Reference of this Committee by expanding item (b) and adding item (g), the incorrect version was adopted by the Committee and the Commission[33]. The Committee confirmed its previous concurrence with the proposal of the CCGP and agreed to request the Commission to adopt the corrected version of the Terms of Reference together with the amendment proposed by this Committee at its last Session (Appendix IV).
56. Several delegations expressed the view that coordination with other Codex Committees be strengthened and some delegations pointed out that there was discrepancy between items (d) and (e) as regards elaboration of sampling plans; and the term "assessment of microbiological quality and safety in food" was not clear. The Committee agreed to request the CCGP to review items (d) and (e) to clarify the situation and to enable this Committee to take more horizontal approach in elaborating sampling plans.
(b) Ad Hoc Working Group on Endorsement
57. The Committee was informed that at its next Session the ad hoc Working Group on Endorsement would probably not meet for reasons including increasing transparency and fairness of Committee activities, and financial implications to Codex and a number of Member countries. The Committee held the view that since specific method endorsement required substantial time and the meetings of the Working Group were open to all participants, so are transparent and fair, the Working Group should be allowed to meet to facilitate deliberations of the Committee. The Committee agreed to recommend that the meetings of the Working Group should continue to be utilized as an efficient means of accomplishing the important task entrusted to this Committee in the limited time frame it has for its Sessions.
(c) Others
58. The Delegation of India stated that special considerations were being given to developing countries under the WTO Agreements. The Committee noted that the CCGP would consider matters regarding the implementation of Codex provisions by developing countries at its next Session[34]. The Delegation of India, supported by that of Egypt, requested that Member countries provide new or continuing assistance in training and technical aids in the area of methods of analysis.
59. The Delegation of Cuba, on behalf of Spanish speaking countries, requested the Host Government that Spanish interpretation be provided at future sessions. The Chairperson responded that the Host Government would consider the use of Spanish interpretation.
FUTURE WORK
60. The Committee agreed to continue work on the following items:
- Proposed Draft General Guidelines on Sampling;61. The Committee also agreed to propose to the Commission that the following new work be undertaken:
- Criteria for evaluating acceptable methods of analysis for Codex purposes;
- Harmonization of analytical terminology in accordance with international standards
- report of Inter-Agency Meeting on "limits";
- Harmonization of reporting of test results corrected for recovery factors;
- Measurement uncertainty;
- Endorsement of methods of analysis provisions in Codex Standards; and
- Report of Inter-Agency Meeting.
- In-house method validation (see para. 19.).
