The Commission:
a) Adopted amendments to several sections of the Procedural Manual, including amendments to Procedures for the Elaboration of Codex Standards and Related Texts and to Definitions for the Purpose of the Codex Alimentarius but could not consider amendments to the Rules of Procedure due to the absence of the quorum required;
b) Adopted 19 new or revised Codex standards or related texts, including the Code of Practice for Good Animal Feeding and the Standard for Oranges;
c) Approved a number of new work proposals, including the re-establishment of the Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology;
d) Expressed its appreciation to FAO and WHO for their effort to maintain the adequate budgetary level for Codex and requested the parent organizations to continue to assign a high priority to Codex;
e) Agreed that a new Strategic Plan should cover the period 2008-2013 and, once adopted, be renewed every two years on a rolling basis;
f) Approved the procedures for the review of the Committee structure and mandates of Codex Committees and Task Forces;
g) Deferred the decision on whether to start the elaboration of a standard on Parmesan cheese to its 28th session, did not approve the discontinuation of work on the revision of the Standard for Canned Sardines and Sardine-type Products and returned the matter to the Committee on Fish and Fishery Products, and referred the issue on the revision of country-of-origin labelling back to the Committee on Food Labelling;
h) Agreed, in regard to its relations with other international organizations, that:-
FAO and WHO initiate discussion with OIE on how to foster and oversee the relations between Codex and OIE; and
the Secretariat maintain its contacts with ISO and report to the Executive Committee and the Commission on ISO’s activities of relevance to Codex work;
i) Welcomed that the FAO/WHO Trust Fund for Enhanced Participation in Codex had become operational, expressed its appreciation to the donor countries, and requested that the criteria used in the distribution of funds be kept under review;
j) Expressed its appreciation to FAO and WHO for their efforts to improve the scientific advice provided to the Commission, agreed to further consider how to address the issue of antimicrobial resistance at its 28th session, and noted the capacity building activities provided by FAO and WHO;
k) Elected the following Officers of the Commission:
Chairperson: Stuart Slorach (Sweden)
Vice-chairpersons: Paul Mayers (Canada), Claude Mosha (Tanzania), Hiroshi Yoshikura (Japan)
