Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 3 • Number 7 • 17th April 2003
CCGP Agrees Codex Risk Analysis Principles
The Codex Committee on General Principles (CCGP) met from 7-11 April in Paris, France, for its 18th session to consider, inter alia, draft working principles for risk analysis for application in the framework of the Codex Alimentarius, proposed draft working principles for risk analysis for food safety, and traceability/product tracing.
The main achievement of the meeting was the adoption of the draft working principles for risk analysis for application in the framework of the Codex Alimentarius, finalised by consensus for final adoption by the Codex Alimentarius Commission in July. These Principles will be widely applied throughout the Codex. During the last meeting of the CCGP, the Committee had decided to develop separate risk analysis principles for the Codex and for governments (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 2 May 2002). While the Codex Principles were adopted at the current meeting, members only started discussion of principles to be applied by governments for risk analysis for food safety, and an updated draft will be circulated before the next meeting of the CCGP in 2004.
New Working Group on traceability/product tracing
The consideration of traceability/product tracing has proven contentious in a number of Codex Committees, notably in the Codex Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived From Biotechnology, which agreed to refer to “tracing of products” rather than traceability as a risk management tool in 2002 (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 21 March 2002). While the EU considers the two concepts to have the same meaning, the US has argued for separate definitions, with product tracing being limited to ‘one step forward and one step back’. The current meeting agreed to begin working on a definition of traceability/product tracing in a new group. The Working Group will be open to interested countries and chaired by France. It will report back to the next session of the CCGP in a year’s time.
Other topics discussed in the CCGP related to the status of the EC as a member of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which was forwarded to be further clarified by the FAO Committee on Constitutional and Legal Matters. On the proposed draft revised code of ethics for international trade in foods, participants made little headway, staying entrenched in well-known positions on issues such as reference to the WTO agreements within the Codex guidelines. This code will remain on the CCGP agenda at its next meeting.
The meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Commission will be held from 30 June to 7 July. The CCGP will meet again in April 2004.
Background
The CCGP deals with procedural and general matters referred to it by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. These include the establishment of the General Principles that define the purpose and scope of the Codex Alimentarius, the nature of Codex standards and guidelines for Codex Committees. Standards are developed in a number of Codex Committees. While these are only voluntary, the Codex Alimentarius Commission is recognised by the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) as the international organisation responsible for standard-setting related to food safety. WTO Members “shall base” their measures related to human and plant health on these standards, guidelines or recommendations. Such measures “shall be deemed to be necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health, and presumed to be consistent with the relevant provisions” of the SPS Agreement. The other two international standard- setting bodies recognised in the SPS Agreement are the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) for plant health and the Office International de Epizooties (OIE) for animal health and zoonoses. While Codex standards only apply to food safety, they are likely to have far wider implications for discussions in the other standard-setting bodies as well as in related fora, including other Codex Committees, the WTO and bilateral negotiations.
The meeting documents are available at: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/ccgp18/gp03_01e.htm.
The meeting report will shortly be available at: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/reports.asp.
ICTSD internal files.