15. The Committee noted and welcomed the recommendation of the 23rd Session of the Commission in relation to principles of risk analysis addressed to the Codex Alimentarius Commission and its subsidiary bodies, governments, and FAO and WHO. Among those recommendations relevant to the work of this Committee, the Committee agreed that it would consider, pending the preparation of a discussion paper (see para. 19 below): (1) the development and application of risk analysis principles and methodologies appropriate to the specific mandate within the framework of the Action Plan; and (2) development of quality criteria for data used for risk assessment. It took note, for implementation as appropriate, of the recommendations regarding the appointment of a developing country(ies) as co-author(s) for position papers; basing risk assessment on global data including that from developing countries; taking into account the economic consequences and the feasibility of risk management options in developing countries; and consideration of acute aspects of dietary exposure to chemicals in foods. It also took note of the recommendation to increase interaction and communication between expert bodies and the Codex Committees.
16. The Delegation of France introduced the paper CX/RVDF 00/3-Add.1. It was stated that comments had been received on the text contained in Appendix IX of ALINORM 99/31 only from the Consumers International and therefore the text had not been revised. The Delegation mentioned that the Committee had not yet established risk assessment policy which was a component of risk management and the work should be done urgently on this issue. It was proposed that since the issue was very technical and complex, in order to facilitate discussion of the plenary, a drafting group should be formed to prepare a discussion paper containing solid recommendations regarding risk analysis principles and methodologies including risk assessment policy. For this purpose, the Delegation drew the attention of the Committee to existing reference documents of JECFA relevant to the issue.
17. A number of delegations supported the creation of a drafting group. Several delegations and one observer stated that the paper prepared for the last session[7] contained useful information that should be used as a basis for further development.
18. A delegation stated that risk management was the function of Codex Committees and national governments, the leadership in this work should be taken by this Committee; and all efforts should be made to encourage developing countries to take part in the drafting. Another delegation proposed that information should be requested from all concerned on subjects to be included in the paper in addition to what had been done by JECFA.
19. The Committee agreed that a drafting group (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United States, JECFA Secretariat, European Community, OIE, WHO, Consumers International and COMISA) led by France and Poland would prepare a discussion paper for government comments well before the next session of the Committee (see paras 65, 141-142). In order to facilitate the drafting process, member countries were invited to provide comments and information relevant to the subject to France. It was mentioned that the drafting process should be accelerated by using modern communication technologies. It was noted that the process of drafting the paper should be as transparent as possible.
20. The Committee thanked the Delegation of France for its continued effort on this significant work of the Committee.
