7. The Committee noted the recommendations of the Commission resulting from the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on the Application of Risk Management to Food Safety Matters,[3] as included in documents CX/FAC 98/2 and Addendum 1, and agreed that they should be taken into account as guidance for the orientation of its future work.
8. The WHO Representative informed the Committee of the outcome of the Joint FAO/WHO Consultation on Food Consumption and Exposure Assessment of Chemicals (Geneva, Switzerland; 10-14 February 1997), and indicated that an Executive Summary was available which presented the main conclusions and recommendations. In particular, the Consultation recommended that the principles of exposure assessment across all food chemicals in Codex should be harmonized.
9. In regard to the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on the Application of Risk Communication to Food Standards and Safety Matters (Rome, Italy; 2-6 February 1998), the WHO Representative informed the Committee that the Consultation was convened to:
10. The WHO Representative drew attention to a recent WHO document issued under the auspices of the Global Environment Monitoring System/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment Programme (GEMS/Food) entitled “Guidelines for Predicting Dietary Intake of Pesticide Residues” which was published with the support of the Government of The Netherlands. The Guidelines provided internationally accepted methodologies for assessing exposure to pesticide residues that might result from the adoption of maximum residue limits. In addition, the WHO Representative drew attention to a newly available brochure, “Working Together for Safe Food - GEMS/Food” which described the purpose and activities of the GEMS/Food Programme.
11. The Delegation of India expressed the view that assistance provided by FAO and WHO in the area of risk analysis should be extended to cover risk communication. The WHO Representative informed the Committee that WHO, in collaboration with the Dutch Government, was undertaking a series of training courses in developing countries on the risk assessment of chemicals. While these training courses broadly addressed the safety of all chemicals, WHO was also in the process of developing a training course specifically for food borne hazards, including risk assessment, management and communication components. All developing countries that might be interested in participating in such a training course were invited to contact the WHO Programme on Food Safety and Food Aid.
12. The Committee agreed that, in order to implement the recommendations of the Commission and integrate risk analysis principles into its work, consideration should be given to specific recommendations relating to additives and contaminants. In this respect, the Committee was informed that a Workshop had been organized by the European Training and Assessment Foundation (ETAF) on behalf of the Netherlands: “Towards Internationally Acceptable Standards for Food Additives and Contaminants based on the Use of Risk Analysis” (Ede, The Netherlands; November 1997). It had considered the relationship between the CCFAC and JECFA and emphasized the importance of an interactive process for policy development as well as the risk assessment and risk management of individual additives and contaminants. The Committee agreed that the following recommendations of the Workshop should be further considered in order to provide guidance for its work:
13. The Committee agreed to circulate these recommendations for comments with a view to elaborating a discussion paper on the application of risk analysis for additives and contaminants. The paper would also take into account the recommendations of the above mentioned Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultations. The Committee agreed that a drafting group led by the United States, and including Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Thailand and the United Kingdom, should prepare the paper for consideration by the next session.
