39. The Committee was informed that during its 12th Session in 1995, the Committee endorsed recommendations to address obstacles identified by the participants who attended the pre-session Workshop. As a follow up, delegations were requested to relate the identified obstacles to situations in their respective countries and thereby draw up an Action Plan to establish/strengthen the country's Codex Contact Point/National Codex Committee, which should be circulated to policy makers, and other concerned authorities.
40. Moreover, it was agreed that progress made on the implementation of the Action Plan by countries in the Region should be included in the agenda of future sessions. In view of this, Circular Letter, CL 1998/39-AFRICA of November 1998 was issued with the report of the 13th Session, requesting progress reports on the implementation of National Action Plans to establish/strengthen the roles of Codex Contact Points and National Codex Committees in the Region. The Committee was informed that only Uganda, the host country for the 14th Session, responded to the CL. The Chairperson then invited the Delegation of Uganda to present its report, while other delegations were requested to present short written reports for inclusion in the report of the Session.
Uganda
41. The Delegation reported that, following the 2-day workshop sponsored by FAO, on the responsibilities and functions of National Codex Committees, (June 2000), the National Codex Committee was established comprising representatives from Government ministries, the industry and trade associations, academia, research institutions, and consumer organizations. The Codex Contact Point is located in the Uganda National Bureau of Standards, while the Chairmanship of the National Codex Committee resided in the Ministry of Health (MOH). The National Codex Committee had established the following Technical Committees: (a) General Purposes Committee, (b) Animal and Animal Products Committee, (c) Plant and Plant Products Committee and (d) Special Committee.
42. The Delegation reported further that, since the establishment of the National Codex Committee in June 2000, a Work Plan had been prepared and the National Codex Committee had undertaken the following major activities: (a) Reviewing of the Codex time-table with the view to identifying those Codex sessions of special interest to Uganda. Thus, Uganda attended the 33rd Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene; and (b) Making adequate preparation and arrangements for the hosting of the 14th Session of this Committee.
Angola
43. The Codex Contact Point was located in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Although there is no National Codex Committee in place, there was an inter-ministerial group to promote its creation in 2001. This group, which was coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, was comprised of the Ministries of Health, Industry, Trade, Fisheries and Environment Affairs. The Committee was informed that technical committees were in the process of working on food safety and the harmonization of food legislation. The coordinator of the inter-ministerial group was also the Codex Contact Point.
Benin
44. The National Codex Committee was established in 1990 and efforts have been made to attend Codex meetings such as the Codex Committees on General Principles, Food Hygiene, Natural Mineral Waters, Cocoa Products and Chocolate. The Codex Contact Point was located in the Ministry of Rural Development in the Department of Food and Applied Nutrition (DANA) and served in dissemination of information and collation of responses. It also served as the secretariat of the National Codex Committee.
Ghana
45. The Codex Contact Point was located in the Ghana Standards Board. The Board receives and disseminates Codex texts to all interested bodies in the country. The National Codex Committee has been inactive for quite sometime, but steps were being taken to re-establish it. However, participation in Codex activities have continued, such as attendance at selected Codex sessions and related FAO/WHO activities. It was expected that the new National Codex Committee would be in place in 2001.
Guinea-Conakry
46. The National Standardization and Metrology Institute (INNM), which served as the National Codex Contact Point, was under the auspice of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Small Scale Enterprises which has established an Intersectorial Technical Committee on foodstuffs which embodies the National Codex Committee. The Chairmanship of this Committee depended on the issues to be discussed. It had established several standards, of which three relate to coffee, one to pineapple and one to mangoes. Several workshops have been held on issues such as the HACCP, ISO 14027, ISO 9000:2000.
Kenya
47. The Codex Contact Point and the Secretariat of the National Codex Committee was in the Kenya Bureau of Standards. The National Codex Committee consists of government ministries, industries, consumers, Kenya Bureau of Standards, and other stakeholders. The Delegation reported that Kenya had identified some specific problems faced by some sectors, especially in particular areas where the country would have some competitive economic advantage. The National Codex Committee would like to play a leading role in streamlining and sustaining quality control in the fish, horticulture and coffee industries. The Delegation requested assistance to strengthen the roles of the National Codex Committee and Codex Contact Point in food quality control.
Morocco
48. The Codex Contact Point is located in the Fraud Tracking Division which belongs to the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, Waters and Forests. This Division served also as the secretariat to the National Codex Committee, established in 1997. Since then it has been placed under the responsibility of a Permanent Interministerial Commission responsible for food control and fraud tracking.
Mozambique
49. The Codex Contact Point is in the Ministry of Health, Department of Environmental Health. The Codex Contact Point is responsible for distributing Codex texts, coordinating the activities of Codex within the country, and supporting the National Institute of Standardization and Quality in their work. In view of an earlier FAO TCP project to strengthen the food control system in the country and improve the capacity building in food control, the next step would be the creation of a National Codex
Committee with members from the Ministries of Agriculture, Trade and Fisheries and from consumer organizations.
Niger
50. The National Codex Committee was comprised of all concerned parties. It encourages decision-makers to rely on and adopt Codex standards as a means of increasing confidence in national export goods. The National Codex Committee has elaborated terms of reference that could facilitate the realization of its objectives. The National Codex Committee was located in the Ministry of Public Health and Reproduction in the Division of Nutrition.
Nigeria
51. The National Codex Committee that had been inactive was reconstituted and re-activated in August 2000, with representation of all identifiable stakeholders. Technical Sub-Committees have been set up for the effective realization of Codex objectives, and plans are being made to strengthen and empower the Codex Contact Point and the National Codex Committee for more effective performance of their respective roles.
Senegal
52. The National Codex Committee served as technical support to the Senegal Standardization Institute (ISN). To date, it has elaborated more than 50 food-related standards. The National Codex Committee was in the process of collating all Codex texts and distributing these in hard copies to members of the National Codex Committee who were concerned with the issue. To improve the system and enhance the performance there was the need for an electronic means of communication. Currently, the selection of technical staff to take part in various activities related to the work of Codex, including attendance at Sessions of Codex Committees, is being carried out taking into account their specialization. The Secretariat also responds to requests for information and comments on food standards. Decree No 83-1204 dated 24 November 1983, not only established the NCC, but also extended its membership to both consumers and the industry. The chairmanship of the National Codex Committee resided in the Ministry of Health and the secretariat was managed by the Ministries of Health, Trade and the ISN.
South Africa
53. The Codex Contact Point, which was located within the Department of Health, was responsible for distribution of Codex documents, coordination of attendance at Codex meetings, dissemination and collation of comments on Codex texts, making responses to enquiries and convening of meetings of the
National Codex Committee.
54. The Delegation indicated that the electronic distribution of documents by the Codex Secretariat has greatly facilitated the distribution of Codex documents within South Africa to many stakeholders who previously did not receive copies of documents. This has helped to create a much greater awareness of the work of Codex. The membership of the National Codex Committee included, but was not limited to Departments of Health and Foreign Affairs, the National Department of Agriculture, the South African Bureau of Standards and the National Consumer Forum. The National Codex Committee is mainly responsible for setting policy in relation to South Africa's Codex activities. The National Codex Committee has awarded local stewardship for each Codex Committee to an officer within one of the government departments, whose daily task is related to the objectives of the respective Codex Committees. The officers liaised very closely with the Codex Contact Point. Delegations from South Africa attended about 80% of all Codex meetings that were held over the previous two years.
55. A project was implemented under the FAO Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) to strengthen the National Codex Committee and to establish its working groups, thereby enhancing its position as the body to advise the government on Codex matters.
Swaziland
56. The active Codex Contact Point is in the Ministry of Agriculture. However, the Codex Procedural Manual, indicated the Ministry of Health as the Codex Contact Point. Members of the National Codex Committee included: Ministries of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Health and Social Welfare, Enterprises and Employment, Foreign Affairs, Trade and Justice. Others were the Local Government, University of Swaziland, the food industry and consumer associations. The National Codex Committee was currently assisting the National Coordinator in the implementation of a FAO TCP project to strengthen the national food control system in the country, and in the drafting of the National Food Law.
Tanzania
57. The Delegation reminded the Committee that in 1998, during the 13th Session of the Committee, it reported that in 1980, the National Codex Committee was established in the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (The Agriculture and Food Divisional Standards Committee - AFDC). Technical committees covering the work of the Codex committees were established and membership was limited to four. A two-day national workshop was held in May 2000 in which 50 of the members of the National Codex
Working Committees were briefed on Codex work.
Consumers International (CI)
58. The Observer from the Consumers' International commented that its organization had been monitoring closely the work of Codex Contact Points and National Codex Committees and the level of participation of Codex Member Countries from the region of Africa in Codex Committees. Some of the data collected by the organisation were, not encouraging as it portrayed very poor participation by African countries. It was on this basis that the Consumers' International Regional Office for Africa, prepared the Draft Guidelines for Codex Contact Points and National Codex Committees - Africa Region, as a contribution to enhancing effective participation of all stakeholders in the work of Codex in the region. (See also paras 60-77)
59. The Committee recognized the important roles of the Codex Contact Points and National Codex Committees in the work of Codex and agreed to continue discussing this agenda item at its 15th Session. The Delegation of Swaziland was requested to confirm the actual location of its Codex Contact Point to the Codex Secretariat. Moreover, those Delegations which were yet to establish their Codex Contact Points/National Codex Committees were encouraged to do so, while those with inactive Committees, were requested to reactivate and strengthen them.
