Rule I Membership

1. Membership of the Joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission hereinafter referred to as “the Commission”, is open to all Member Nations and Associate Members of FAO and/or WHO.

2. Membership shall comprise such eligible nations as have notified the Director-General of FAO or of WHO of their desire to be considered Members of the Commission.

3. Membership shall also comprise regional economic integration organizations members of either FAO or WHO that notify the Director-General of FAO or WHO of their desire to be considered Members of the Commission.

4. Each Member of the Commission shall communicate to the Director-General of FAO or of WHO the names of its representative and where possible other members of its delegation before the opening of each session of the Commission.

Rule II Member Organizations

1. A Member Organization shall exercise membership rights on an alternative basis with its Member States that are Members of the Commission in the areas of their respective competence.

2. A Member Organization shall have the right to participate in matters within its competence in any meetings of the Commission or its subsidiary bodies in which any of its Member States is entitled to participate. This is without prejudice to the possibility for the Member States to develop or support the position of the Member Organization in areas within its competence.

3. A Member Organization may exercise on matters within its competence, in any meetings of the Commission or any subsidiary body of the Commission in which it is entitled to participate in accordance with paragraph 2, a number of votes equal to the number of its Member States which are entitled to vote in such meetings and present at the time the vote is taken. Whenever a Member Organization exercises its right to vote, its Member States shall not exercise theirs, and conversely.

4. A Member Organization shall not be eligible for election or designation, nor to hold office in the Commission or any subsidiary body. A Member Organization shall not participate in voting for any elective places in the Commission and its subsidiary bodies.

5. Before any meeting of the Commission or a subsidiary body of the Commission in which a Member Organization is entitled to participate, the Member Organization or its Member States shall indicate in writing which, as between the Member Organization and its Member States, has competence in respect of any specific question to be considered in the meeting and which, as between the Member Organization and its Member States, shall exercise the right to vote in respect of each particular agenda item. Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent a Member Organization or its Member States from making a single declaration in the Commission and each subsidiary body in which a Member Organization is entitled to participate for the purposes of this paragraph, which declaration shall remain in force for questions and agenda items to be considered at all subsequent meetings, subject to such exceptions or modifications as may be indicated before any individual meeting.

6. Any Member of the Commission may request a Member Organization or its Member States to provide information as to which, as between the Member Organization and its Member States, has competence in respect of any specific question. The Member Organization or the Member States concerned shall provide this information on such request.

7. In cases where an agenda item covers both matters in respect of which competence has been transferred to the Member Organization and matters which lie within the competence of its Member States, both the Member Organization and its Member States may participate in the discussions. In such cases the meeting, in arriving at its decisions,  shall take into account only the intervention of the party which has the right to vote. 

8. For the purpose of determining a quorum, as specified in paragraph 7 of Rule VI, the delegation of a Member Organization shall be counted for a number equal to the number of its Member States which are entitled to participate in the meeting and are present at the time the quorum is sought, to the extent that it is entitled to vote under the relevant agenda item.

Rule III Officers

1. The Commission shall elect a Chairperson and three Vice-Chairpersons from among the representatives, alternates and advisers (hereinafter referred to as “delegates”) of the Members of the Commission; it being understood that no delegate shall be eligible without the concurrence of the head of his delegation. They shall be elected at each session and shall hold office from the end of the session at which they were elected until the end of the following regular session. The Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons may remain in office only with the continuing endorsement of the respective Member of the Commission of which they were a delegate at the time of election. The Directors-General of FAO and WHO shall declare a position vacant when advised by the Member of the Commission that such endorsement has ceased. The Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons shall be eligible for re-election twice, provided that by the end of their second term of office they have not served for a period of more than two years. 

2. The Chairperson, or in his absence a Vice-Chairperson, shall preside at meetings of the Commission and exercise such other function as may be required to facilitate the work of the Commission. A Vice-Chairperson acting as Chairperson shall have the same powers and duties as the Chairperson.

3. When neither the Chairperson nor the Vice-Chairperson are able to serve and, on the request of the outgoing Chairperson, during elections for the Chairperson, the Directors-General of FAO and WHO shall appoint a staff member to act as Chairperson, until either a temporary Chairperson or a new Chairperson has been elected. Any temporary Chairperson so elected shall hold office until the Chairperson or one of the Vice-Chairpersons is able to serve again.

4. The Commission may appoint one or more rapporteurs from among the delegates of the Members of the Commission.

5. The Directors-General of FAO and WHO shall be requested to appoint from the staffs of their organizations a Secretary of the Commission and such other officials, likewise responsible to them, as may be necessary to assist the officers and the Secretary in performing all duties that the work of the Commission may require.

Rule IV Coordinators

1. The Commission may appoint a Coordinator from among the Members of the Commission for any of the geographic locations enumerated in Rule V.1 (hereinafter referred to as “regions”) or for any group of countries specifically enumerated by the Commission (hereinafter referred to as ‘groups of countries’), whenever it may find, on the basis of a proposal of a majority of the Members of the Commission which constitute the region or group, that work for the Codex Alimentarius in the countries concerned so requires.

2. Appointment of Coordinators shall be made exclusively on the proposal of a majority of the Members of the Commission which constitute the region or group of countries concerned. In principle, they shall be nominated at each session of the relevant Coordinating Committee established under Rule XI.1(b)(ii), and appointed at the following regular session of the Commission. They shall hold office from the end of this session. Coordinators may be reappointed for a second term. The Commission shall make such arrangements as may be necessary in order to ensure continuity in the functions of the Coordinators.

3. The functions of the Coordinators shall be:

(a) to appoint the Chairperson of the Coordinating Committee where such committee has been set up under Rule XI.1(b)(ii) for the region or group of countries concerned;

(b) to assist and coordinate the work of the Codex Committees set up under Rule XI.1(b)(i) in their region or group of countries in the preparation of draft standards, guidelines and other recommendations for submission to the Commission;

(c) to assist the Executive Committee and the Commission, as required, by advising them of the views of countries and recognized regional intergovernmental and non-government organizations in their respective regions on matters under discussion or of interest.

Rule V Executive Committee

1. The Executive Committee shall consist of the Chairperson and the Vice-Chairpersons of the Commission, and the Coordinators appointed on the basis of Rule IV together with seven further Members elected by the Commission at regular sessions from among the Members of the Commission, one each coming from the following geographic locations: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Near East, North America, South-West Pacific. Not more than one delegate from any one country shall be a member of the Executive Committee. Members elected on a geographic basis shall hold office from the end of the session of the Commission at which they were elected until the end of the second succeeding regular session and shall be eligible for re-election if they have not served for more than two years in their current term, but after having served two consecutive terms shall be ineligible to hold such office for the next succeeding term. Members elected on a geographic basis are expected to act within the Executive Committee in the interest of the Commission as a whole.

2. The Executive Committee shall, between sessions of the Commission, act on behalf of the Commission as its executive organ. In particular, the Executive Committee may make proposals to the Commission regarding general orientation, strategic planning, and programming of the work of the Commission, study special problems and shall assist in the management of the Commission’s programme of standards development, namely by conducting a critical review of proposals to undertake work and monitoring the progress of standards development.

3. The Executive Committee shall consider specific matters referred to it by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO as well as the estimate of expenditure for the Commission’s proposed programme of work as described in Rule XIII.1.

4. The Executive Committee may establish such sub-committees from among its Members as it may deem necessary to enable it to exercise its functions as effectively as possible. Such sub-committees should be limited in numbers, carry out preparatory work and report to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall appoint one of the Vice-Chairpersons of the Commission to serve as chairpersons of any such sub-committee. Consideration should be given to an appropriate geographical balance in the membership of sub-committees.

5. The Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons of the Commission shall be respectively the Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons of the Executive Committee.

6. Sessions of the Executive Committee may be convened as often as necessary by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO, in consultation with the Chairperson. The Executive Committee shall normally meet immediately prior to each session of the Commission.

7. The Executive Committee shall report to the Commission.

Rule VI Sessions

1. The Commission shall in principle hold one regular session each year at the Headquarters of either FAO or WHO. Additional sessions shall be held as considered necessary by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO after consultation, with the Chairperson of the Executive Committee.

2. Sessions of the Commission shall be convened and the place of the meeting shall be determined by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO after consultation, where appropriate, with the authorities of the host country.

3. Notice of the date and place of each session of the Commission shall be communicated to all Members of the Commission at least two months before the session.

4. Each Member of the Commission shall have one representative, who may be accompanied by one or more alternates and advisers.

5. In plenary meetings of the Commission, the representative of a Member may designate an alternate who shall have the right to speak and vote in the name of his or her delegation on any question. Moreover, upon the request of the representative or any alternate so designated, the Chairperson may allow an adviser to speak on any particular point.

6. Meetings of the Commission shall be held in public, unless the Commission decides otherwise.

7. The majority of the Members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum for the purposes of making recommendations for amendments to the Statutes of the Commission and of adopting amendments of, or additions to, the present Rules in accordance with Rule XV.1. For all other purposes the majority of the Members of the Commission attending the session shall constitute a quorum, provided that such a majority shall be not less than 20 percent of the total membership of the Commission, nor less than 25 Members. In addition, in the case of amendment or adoption of a proposed standard for a given region or group of countries, the quorum of the Commission shall include one third of the Members belonging to the region or group of countries concerned.

Rule VII Agenda

1. The Directors-General of FAO and WHO, after consultation with the Chairperson of the Commission or with the Executive Committee, shall prepare a Provisional Agenda for each session of the Commission.

2. The first item on the Provisional Agenda shall be the adoption of the Agenda.

3. Any Member of the Commission may request the Directors-General of FAO or WHO to include specific items in the Provisional Agenda.

4. The Provisional Agenda shall be circulated by the Directors-General of FAO or WHO to all Members of the Commission at least two months before the opening of the session.

5. Any Member of the Commission, and the Directors-General of FAO and WHO, may, after the dispatch of the Provisional Agenda, propose the inclusion of specific items in the Agenda with respect to matters of an urgent nature. These items shall be placed on a supplementary list, which, if time permits before the opening of the session, shall be dispatched by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO to all Members of the Commission, failing which the supplementary list shall be communicated to the Chairperson for submission to the Commission.

6. No items included in the Agenda by the governing bodies or the Directors-General of FAO and WHO shall be deleted therefrom. After the Agenda has been adopted, the Commission may, by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast, amend the Agenda by the deletion, addition or modification of any other item.

7. Documents to be submitted to the Commission at any session shall be furnished by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO to all Members of the Commission, to the other eligible Nations attending the session as observers and to the non-member nations and international organizations invited as observers thereto, in principle at least two months prior to the session at which they are to be discussed.

Rule VIII Voting and Procedures

1. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 3 of this Rule, each Member of the Commission shall have one vote. An alternate or adviser shall not have the right to vote except where substituting for the representative.

2. Except as otherwise provided in these rules, decisions of the Commission shall be taken by a majority of the votes cast.

3. At the request of a majority of the Members of the Commission constituting a given region or a group of countries that a standard be elaborated, the standard concerned shall be elaborated as a standard primarily intended for that region or group of countries. When a vote is taken on the elaboration, amendment or adoption of a draft standard primarily intended for a region or group of countries, only Members belonging to that region or group of countries may take part in the voting. The adoption of the standard may, however, take place only after submission of the draft text to all Members of the Commission for comments. The provisions of this paragraph shall not prejudice the elaboration or adoption of a corresponding standard with a different territorial scope.

4. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 5 of this Rule and paragraph 2 of Rule XII, any Member of the Commission may request a roll-call vote, in which case the vote of each Member shall be recorded.

5. Elections shall be decided by secret ballot, except that, where the number of candidates does not exceed the number of vacancies, the Chairperson may submit to the Commission that the election be decided by clear general consent. Any other matter shall be decided by secret ballot if the Commission so determines.

6. Formal proposals relating to items of the Agenda and amendments thereto shall be introduced in writing and handed to the Chairperson, who shall circulate them to representatives of Members of the Commission.

7. The provisions of Rule XII of the General Rules of FAO shall apply mutatis mutandis to all matters which are not specifically dealt with under Rule VIII of the present Rules.

Rule IX Observers

1. Any Member Nation and any Associate Member of FAO or WHO which is not a Member of the Commission but has a special interest in the work of the Commission, may, upon request communicated to the Director-General of FAO or WHO, attend sessions of the Commission and of its subsidiary bodies as an observer. It may submit memoranda and participate without vote in the discussion.

2. Nations which, while not Member Nations or Associate Members of FAO or WHO, are Members of the United Nations, may, upon their request and subject to the provisions relating to the granting of observer status to nations adopted by the Conference of FAO and the World Health Assembly, be invited to attend in an observer capacity sessions of the Commission and of its subsidiary bodies. The status of nations invited to such sessions shall be governed by the relevant provisions adopted by the Conference of FAO.

3. Any Member of the Commission may attend as an observer the sessions of the subsidiary bodies and may submit memoranda and participate without vote in the discussions.

4. Subject to the provisions of paragraphs 5 and 6 of this Rule, the Directors-General of FAO or WHO may invite intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations to attend as observers sessions of the Commission and of its subsidiary bodies.

5. Participation of intergovernmental organizations in the work of the Commission and the relations between the Commission and such organizations shall be governed by the relevant provisions of the Constitutions of FAO or WHO, as well as by the applicable regulations of FAO or WHO on relations with intergovernmental organizations; such relations shall be handled by the Director-General of FAO or WHO, as appropriate.

6. Participation of international non-governmental organizations in the work of the Commission and the relations between the Commission and such organizations shall be governed by the relevant provisions of the Constitution of FAO or WHO, as well as by applicable regulations of FAO or WHO on relations with international non-governmental organizations. Such relations shall be handled by the Director-General of FAO or WHO, as appropriate, on the advice of the Executive Committee. The Commission shall develop and keep under review principles and criteria concerning the participation of international non-governmental organizations in its work, consistent with the applicable regulations of FAO or WHO.

Rule X Records and Reports

1. At each session the Commission shall approve a report embodying its views, recommendations and conclusions, including when requested a statement of minority views. Such other records for its own use as the Commission may on occasion decide shall also be maintained.

2. The report of the Commission shall be transmitted to the Directors-General of FAO and WHO at the close of each session, who shall circulate it to the Members of the Commission, to other countries and to organizations that were represented at the session, for their information, and upon request to other Member Nations and Associate Members of FAO and WHO.

3. Recommendations of the Commission having policy, programme or financial implications for FAO and/or WHO shall be brought by the Directors-General to the attention of the governing bodies of FAO and/or WHO for appropriate action.

4. Subject to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the Directors-General of FAO and WHO may request Members of the Commission to supply the Commission with information on action taken on the basis of recommendations made by the Commission.

Rule XI Subsidiary Bodies

1. The Commission may establish the following types of subsidiary bodies:

(a) subsidiary bodies which it deems necessary for the accomplishment of its work in the finalization of draft standards;

(b) subsidiary bodies in the form of:

(i) Codex Committees for the preparation of draft standards for submission to the Commission, whether intended for worldwide use, for a given region or for a group of countries specifically enumerated by the Commission.

(ii) Coordinating Committees for regions or groups of countries which shall exercise general coordination in the preparation of standards relating to such regions or groups of countries and such other functions as may be entrusted to them.

2. Subject to paragraph 3 below, membership in these subsidiary bodies shall consist, as may be determined by the Commission, either of such Members of the Commission as have notified the Directors-General of FAO or WHO of their desire to be considered as Members thereof, or of selected Members designated by the Commission.

3. Membership of subsidiary bodies established under Rule XI.1(b)(i) for the preparation of draft standards intended primarily for a region or group of countries, shall be open only to Members of the Commission belonging to such a region or group of countries.

4. Representatives of members of subsidiary bodies shall, insofar as possible, serve in a continuing capacity and shall be specialists active in the fields of the respective subsidiary bodies.

5. Subsidiary bodies may only be established by the Commission except where otherwise provided in these Rules. Their terms of reference and reporting procedures shall be determined by the Commission.

6. Sessions of subsidiary bodies shall be convened by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO:

(a) in the case of bodies established under Rule XI.1(a), in consultation with the Chairperson of the Commission;

(b) in the case of bodies established under Rule XI.1(b)(i) (Codex Committees), in consultation with the chairperson of the respective Codex Committee and also, in the case of Codex Committees for the preparation of draft standards for a given region or group of countries, with the Coordinator, if a Coordinator has been appointed for the region or group of countries concerned; 

(c) in the case of bodies established under Rule XI.1(b)(ii) (Coordinating Committees), in consultation with the Chairperson of the Coordinating Committee.

7. The Directors-General of FAO and WHO shall determine the place of meeting of bodies established under Rule XI.1(a) and Rule XI.1(b)(ii) after consultation, where appropriate, with the host country concerned and, in the case of bodies established under Rule XI.1(b)(ii), after consultation with the Coordinator for the region or group of countries concerned, if any.

8. Notice of the date and place of each session of bodies established under Rule XI.1(a) shall be communicated to all Members of the Commission at least two months before the session.

9. The establishment of subsidiary bodies under Rule XI.1(a) and Rule XI.1(b)(ii) shall be subject to the availability of the necessary funds, as shall the establishment of subsidiary bodies under Rule XI.1(b)(i) when any of their expenses are proposed to be recognized as operating expenses within the budget of the Commission in accordance with Article 10 of the Statutes of the Commission. Before taking any decision involving expenditure in connection with the establishment of such subsidiary bodies, the Commission shall have before it a report from the Director-General of FAO and/or WHO, as appropriate, on the administrative and financial implications thereof.

10. The Members who shall be responsible for appointing Chairpersons of subsidiary bodies established under Rule XI.1(b)(i) shall be designated at each session by the Commission and shall be eligible for re-designation. All other officers of subsidiary bodies shall be elected by the body concerned and shall be eligible for re-election.

11. The Rules of Procedure of the Commission shall apply mutatis mutandis to its subsidiary bodies.

Rule XII Elaboration and Adoption of Standards

1. Subject to the provisions of these Rules of Procedure, the Commission may establish the procedures for the elaboration of worldwide standards and of standards for a given region or group of countries, and, when necessary, amend such procedures.

2. The Commission shall make every effort to reach agreement on the adoption or amendment of standards by consensus. Decisions to adopt or amend standards may be taken by voting only if such efforts to reach consensus have failed.

Rule XIII Budget and Expenses

1. The Directors-General of FAO and WHO shall prepare for consideration by the Commission at its regular sessions an estimate of expenditure based on the proposed programme of work of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies, together with information concerning expenditures for the previous financial period. This estimate, with such modifications as may be considered appropriate by the Directors-General in the light of recommendations made by the Commission, shall subsequently be incorporated in the Regular Budgets of the two Organizations for approval by the appropriate governing bodies.

2. The estimate of expenditure shall make provisions for the operating expenses of the Commission and the subsidiary bodies of the Commission established under Rule XI.1(a) and XI.1(b)(ii) and for the expenses relating to staff assigned to the Programme and other expenditures incurred in connection with the servicing of the latter. 

3. The estimate of expenditure shall make provision for the travel expenses (including a daily subsistence allowance) of members of the Executive Committee from developing countries for the purpose of participating in meetings of the Executive Committee.

4. The operating costs of subsidiary bodies established under Rule XI.1(b)(i) (Codex Committees) shall be borne by each Member accepting the Chair of such a body. The estimate of expenditure may include a provision for such costs involved in preparatory work as may be recognized as operating expenses of the Commission in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 of the Statutes of the Commission.

5. Except as provided for in Rule XIII.3, the estimate of expenditure shall make no provision for expenses, including travel, incurred by delegations of the Members of the Commission or of observers referred to in Rule IX, in connection with their attendance at sessions of the Commission or its subsidiary bodies. Should experts be invited by the Directors-General of FAO or WHO to attend sessions of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies in their individual capacity, their expenses shall be borne out of the regular budgetary funds available for the work of the Commission.

Rule XIV Languages

1. The languages of the Commission and of its subsidiary bodies set up under Rule XI.1(a) shall be not less than three of the working languages, as shall be determined by the Commission, which are working languages both of FAO and of the Health Assembly of WHO.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 above, other languages which are working languages either of FAO or of the Health Assembly of WHO may be added by the Commission if:

(a) the Commission has before it a report from the Directors-General of FAO and WHO on the policy, financial and administrative implications of the addition of such languages; and

(b) the addition of such languages has the approval of the Directors-General of FAO and WHO.

3. Where a representative wishes to use a language other than a language of the Commission he shall himself provide the necessary interpretation and/or translation into one of the languages of the Commission.

4. Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 3 of this Rule, the languages of subsidiary bodies set up under Rule XI.1(b) shall include at least two of the languages of the Commission.

Rule XV Amendments and Suspension of Rules

1. Amendments of or additions to these Rules may be adopted by a two thirds majority of the votes cast, provided that 24 hours’ notice of the proposal for the amendment or addition has been given. Amendments of or additions to these Rules shall come into force upon approval by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO, subject to such confirmation as may be prescribed by the procedures of the two Organizations.

2. The Rules of the Commission, other than Rule I, Rule III.1, 2, 3 and 5, Rule V, Rule VI.2 and 7, Rule VII.1, 4 and 6, Rule VIII.1, 2 and 3, Rule IX, Rule X.3 and 4, Rule XI.5, 7 and 9, Rule XIII, Rule XV and Rule XVI, may be suspended by the Commission by a two thirds majority of the votes cast, provided that 24 hours’ notice of the proposal for suspension has been given. Such notice may be waived if no representative of the Members of the Commission objects.

Rule XVI Entry into Force

1. In accordance with Article 8 of the Statutes of the Commission, these Rules of Procedure shall come into force upon approval by the Directors-General of FAO and WHO, subject to such confirmation as may be prescribed by the procedures of the two Organizations. Pending the coming into force of these Rules, they shall apply provisionally.