HARMONIZATION AND COOPERATION IN FOOD LEGISLATION AND FOOD CONTROL ACTIVITIES IN THE REGION (AGENDA ITEM 4)[5]

19. The Committee recalled that, at its 13th Session, it was agreed that progress reports on the harmonization of national and regional standards with Codex Standards would be discussed at the 14^th Session. Many Delegations reported on the progress made by accepting Codex Standards and related texts with the view of harmonizing their national food legislation.

Uganda

20. The Delegation of Uganda informed the Committee that the Uganda National Bureau of Standards had developed 67 food standards, 46 of which were Codex based. The National Codex Committee developed their draft National Food Law based on the FAO/WHO Model Food Law. It was indicated that both the Ugandan and East African Standards on the Labelling of Pre-packaged Foods were based on the corresponding Codex Standard.

South Africa

21. The Delegation of South Africa informed the Committee that its main activities in relation to harmonization and co-operation in food legislation and food control in the sub-region were through its participation in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), which had 14 Member States. SADC has undertaken the Standardization Quality Assurance, Accreditation and Metrology (SQAM) initiative as a means to achieving harmonization among its members. This initiative encompasses standardisation, accreditation, certification, conformity assessment, testing, inspection, metrology and related matters, with the objective of progressively eliminating any technical barriers to trade among member states and between SADC and other regional and international trading blocks. It also promotes quality and the development of an infrastructure for quality in its member states. The Delegation also informed the Committee that a workshop on Harmonization and Implementation of the SPS/TBT Agreements had been held this year in Namibia for SADC Members.

22. The creation of an independent food control agency has been investigated as a means of addressing the fragmentation of South African food legislation. The Committee was also informed that the South African Meat Safety Act had been adopted in October 2000, in line with Codex standards and corresponding recommendations.

Morocco

23. The Delegation of Morocco highlighted the comprehensive revision of the national food legislation that was supported by a FAO technical assistance project during the last five years. Three main legal texts on Food Quality Control, Consumer Protection and Involvement, and the Principles of Ethics for Fair Trade Practices were being finalised. The implementation of those texts would reduce differences related to food safety between domestic and exported foods.

Senegal

24. The Delegation of Senegal pointed out that the use of international Codex Standards by African countries was the most efficient means of achieving harmonisation in the region. However, countries would have to overcome several obstacles in achieving harmonisation:

· Countries would need to ensure that efforts made to produce high quality safe foods for export did not lead to the reduced availability of such products on the domestic markets as this could adversely affect consumer health.

· Training programmes and educational activities would need to be implemented to ensure good hygienic practices all along the food chain.

· Appropriate infrastructure to facilitate food imports and export inspection and certification systems would need to be established.

Tanzania

26. The Delegation of Tanzania recalled the long-standing food standardization process being undertaken by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) since 1976. As National Codex Contact Point and the Secretariat of the National Codex Committee and its subsidiary bodies, TBS was designated as the national body in charge of implementing Codex standards as national standards. The Delegation pointed out that Tanzania was also taking part in the work of the East African Standards Secretariat and the SADC Standards Committee in ensuring adaptation and adoption of Codex Standards.

Nigeria

27. The Delegation of Nigeria recalled that it had reported at the last Session of the Committee that four national food standards were directly derived from Codex Standards. It indicated that no significant changes had occurred in the interim and were unlikely to occur. It informed the Committee that Member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) free trade zone decided to adopt Codex Alimentarius Standards as their common food standards. Delegations of Benin, Niger, Senegal, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire reported their adhesion to this decision.

Swaziland

28. The Delegation of Swaziland informed the Committee that in Swaziland, the food legislation had been based on the FAO/WHO Model Food Law.

Kenya

29. The Delegation of Kenya indicated that a similar approach to that of Uganda was followed on Pre-packaged food but it pointed out that the distribution of food regulations over five legislative acts impeded their implementation. Therefore, FAO assistance to strengthen the national Codex Contact Point and food control system in Kenya was requested. The Delegation of Kenya informed the Committee that they harmonised food standards based on Codex adopted texts together with Tanzania and Uganda as East African Standards.

Mozambique

30. The Delegation of Mozambique informed the Committee that international support from FAO and WHO had enabled the training of inspectors in food safety control investigation. It also expressed the need for accreditation of national laboratories by internationally recognised organisations.

Benin

31. The Delegation of Benin recalled its participation, as an ECOWAS member, in the above-cited process of harmonizing national legislation with Codex. Benin has undertaken to set up national Codex-based standards, including those for manioc and other processed fruits, vegetables and cereals.

Ghana

32. The Delegation of Ghana indicated that the development of a bilateral approach with Nigeria had been initiated as the first step to broader harmonization among ECOWAS partners.

Côte d'Ivoire

33. The Delegation of Côte d'Ivoire indicated that a high priority was given to harmonization of national legislation through the establishment of a food regulation database in order to compare and combine existing legislation and food inspection systems. A programme for continued training of veterinary inspectors in food hygiene management had been carried out in French-speaking African countries[6] through a regional project financed by France. It referred to the need for integration of this project with other FAO and WHO regional activities in the area of HACCP, risk analysis and strengthening of National Codex infrastructures.

Guinea Conakry

34. The Delegation of Guinea Conakry informed the Committee of their efforts to co-ordinate activities with neighbouring countries in developing a better harmonization of food standards based on the application of food hygiene provisions, HACCP and ISO 9000:2000 in their national food industry.

Eritrea

35. The Delegation of Eritrea informed the Committee that the National Codex Contact Point was located in the Eritrea Standards Institute (ESI) and that ESI was an autonomous standardization body. The Standards Board constituted by eleven members from different Ministries and Institutions and that the Ministry of Trade and Industry was chairing the Board. The Institution promoted the activities of standardization, quality assurance and metrology throughout the country. Even though there was no single food legislation, ESI had been adopting Codex Standards at the national level, such as that for the iodine level in food grade salt. Most of Food and Agricultural Standards were published in the Eritrean Law Gazette. It also highlighted the need for training of trainers in the fisheries sector and the need for technical assistance from FAO and WHO in preparing comprehensive food legislation and in strenghtening the role of Codex Contact Point and food quality control in the country.

Consumers International

36. The Observer from Consumers International (CI) expressed its concern that consumer organizations were not always involved at the sub-regional and regional level (e.g. SADC, ECOWAS, EAC, COMESA) during the harmonization process. However, the Observer recognised and acknowledged the efforts undertaken by many Codex Member Countries within the region to involve consumer organizations in Codex activities at the national level.

37. The Observer also informed the Committee that CI Regional Office for Africa proposed the establishment of a Rapid Alert System[7] for Africa in order to protect consumers from food-related hazards. Furthermore, it proposed to conduct and publish the results of food market research and undertake survey projects in order to enhance the harmonization of food legislation on the continent.

The Observer expressed the hope that Member Countries in the region would necessary measures to involve consumer organisations in the food legislation harmonization process at all levels.

38. The Committee noted that progress had been made since the last Session in harmonizing food regulations in the African region and encouraged all Members to continue reporting to the Committee on future developments in this area. It was also recognised that increased involvement of consumer associations in the harmonization process was of high priority.