RELATIONS BETWEEN THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION (Agenda Item 14)^[92]

A. Relations between the Codex Alimentarius Commission and other international intergovernmental organizations^[93]

173. The Commission was reminded that the amendment to Rule VIII.5 “Observers” proposed by the 20^th Session of the Committee on General Principles had not been adopted at the present session due to the absence of quorum (see para. 9). It took note of the status of the draft Guidelines for Cooperation with International Intergovernmental Organization under development in the Committee on General Principles and noted that the 21^st Session of the Committee would consider a revised draft prepared by the Secretariat. In this regard, the Commission noted that the Committee on General Principles did not support the elaboration of a joint standard with a cooperating organization.^[94]

174. The Representative of WTO drew the attention of the Commission to the report of the WTO Secretariat on the activities of the SPS Committee and other WTO activities relevant to food safety in 2003, including its work related to equivalence.

Relation between Codex and OIE

175. The Commission was informed of the recent revision of Agreements of cooperation between FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and between OIE and WHO.^[95]

176. The Representative of the OIE, in his address to the Commission, highlighted the importance of a strengthened collaboration between OIE and Codex to address food safety hazards in the food chain, especially in animal production. The Representative was of the opinion that privileged cooperation between the three international standard-setting bodies referred in the SPS Agreement, e.g. Codex, OIE and IPPC, be established to foster work in areas of mutual interest, thereby identifying gaps, avoiding duplication and ensuring consistent and harmonised texts.

177. The Representative informed the Commission of the activities of the OIE Working Group on Animal Production Food Safety, established in 2002, which met in April 2004 for the third time. The Representative underlined the active participation and contribution of OIE in the work of various Codex subsidiary bodies. With regard to the antimicrobial resistance, the Representative stated that the OIE was supporting the establishment of a joint Codex/OIE Task Force as recommended by the Oslo’s Workshop and that OIE rules and procedures already allowed for its creation.

178. The Representatives of FAO and WHO reiterated their support for a strengthened collaboration between Codex and OIE and the Commission noted that discussion on how to foster the cooperation would start between FAO, WHO and OIE on the basis of the revised interagency agreements.

179. Many delegations expressed their support for strengthening cooperation between Codex and OIE. It was pointed out that consistency should be ensured between Codex and OIE texts despite the difference in the mandates of Codex and OIE; that the relation between Codex and OIE should be open and transparent; that a future collaborative body should be a subsidiary body of Codex; whether OIE collaboration should be at the initial drafting stages of standards development noting the importance of the first drafting in terms of the source and manner of its preparation for elaboration of standards and the need for Codex subsidiary bodies to elaborate standards and related texts through the Codex Step Procedure; that there was a need to explore pragmatic way to foster the collaboration while respecting the independence and without modifying the programme of the two organizations; that the cooperation with OIE should be based on legally sound agreement; that the work on the “Guidelines on Cooperation with International Intergovernmental Organizations” should be completed before considering particular arrangements between Codex and OIE. The Delegation of China stated that the collaboration between Codex and OIE should be in conformity with the cooperative relations between FAO/WHO and OIE.

180. The Commission concluded the discussion by reiterating its interest for increased cooperation with OIE and suggested that FAO and WHO initiate discussion in accordance with the recommendations of the 53^rd Session of the Executive Committee^[96], taking account of the comments made (see the paragraph above). The Commission requested the Committee on General Principles to finalise the Guidelines at an early opportunity and recommended that the collaboration between Codex and OIE be strengthened also at national and regional level.

B. Relations between the Codex Alimentarius Commission and international non-governmental organizations^[97]

181. In accordance with Article 6 of the Principles Concerning the Participation of International Non-Governmental Organizations in the Work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the Secretariat reported to the Commission on the cooperation with NGOs, as presented in ALINORM 04/27/10E and LIM 7.

Relation between Codex and ISO

182. The Commission recalled that the 53^rd Session of the Executive Committee had agreed that the Codex Secretariat establish preliminary contact with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to obtain information on the current status of food safety work within ISO.^[98]

183. The Observer from ISO, while introducing ISO activities (INF.2), recalled the long-standing cooperation between Codex and ISO and pointed out that Codex and ISO activities were complementary. The Observer highlighted the work of ISO in relevant areas, in particular the work of Technical Committee 34, including draft standards on Food Safety Management Systems - Requirements (ISO 22000) and on Traceability Systems in the agricultural food chain - General principles for design and development (ISO 22518). The Observer indicated that cooperation could be expanded to consider broader areas such as liaison with other ISO Committees, conformity assessment standardization and policy level exchange and coordination. The Commission noted the information on capacity building activities of ISO in developing countries.

184. The Delegation of Mexico supported cooperation with ISO in areas of common interest and noted that Codex could benefit from the technical work of ISO in order to facilitate international harmonization of standards.

185. The Delegation of the United States expressed concern with the work undertaken by ISO in areas related to food safety, namely ISO 22000 and ISO 22518, and requested continued contacts between the Codex and ISO Secretariats in order to regularly provide information on ISO activities to the Commission.

186. The Delegation of Canada proposed to distribute ISO documents through the Codex lists of distribution to Codex Contact Points. The Commission however noted that this would create practical difficulties in view of the large quantity of ISO documents and communications, and that information could preferably be exchanged between relevant bodies at the national level.

187. The Commission agreed that the Secretariat should maintain its contacts with ISO and report to the Executive Committee and the Commission on ISO activities of relevance to Codex work.