C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S
Preparing New Work Proposals - Criteria and format -
Codex Secretariat
CODEX TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC Denpasar , Indonesia
13-15 November 2008
C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S
Structure of the presentation
• Processes for the approval of new work
• Format for project documents
• How to provide sufficient information for critical review by
the CCEXEC
C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S
Standard development - elaboration procedurenormal normal
Commission Decision to elaborate Commission Decision to elaborate
a new text a new text
STEP 1 STEP 1
Rapporteur develops Rapporteur develops proposed draft text proposed draft text
STEP 2 STEP 2
Text is sent for comments to Text is sent for comments to
members and observers members and observers
STEP 3 STEP 3
Comments are forwarded Comments are forwarded
to the Committee to the Committee
STEP 4 STEP 4
Text is sent through CCEXEC Text is sent through CCEXEC to the Commission for adoption to the Commission for adoption
as draft standard as draft standard
STEP 5 STEP 5
Text is sent for comments to Text is sent for comments to
members and observers members and observers
STEP 6 STEP 6
Comments are forwarded Comments are forwarded
to the Committee to the Committee
STEP 7 STEP 7
Text is sent through CCEXEC Text is sent through CCEXEC
to the Commission to the Commission for final adoption for final adoption
STEP 8 STEP 8
accelerated accelerated two-third majority two-third majority
Commission Decision to elaborate Commission Decision to elaborate
a new text a new text
STEP 1 STEP 1
Rapporteur develops Rapporteur develops proposed draft text proposed draft text
STEP 2 STEP 2
Text is sent for comments to Text is sent for comments to
members and observers members and observers
STEP 3 STEP 3
Comments are forwarded Comments are forwarded
to the Committee to the Committee
STEP 4 STEP 4
Text is sent through CCEXEC Text is sent through CCEXEC to the Commission for adoption to the Commission for adoption
as draft standard as draft standard
STEP 5 STEP 5
Text is sent through CCEXEC Text is sent through CCEXEC
to the Commission to the Commission for final adoption for final adoption
STEP 8 STEP 8 Decision to omit
Decision to omit steps 6 and 7 steps 6 and 7
Text is sent through CCEXEC Text is sent through CCEXEC
to the Commission to the Commission for final adoption for final adoption
STEP 8 STEP 8
omit steps 6 and 7 omit steps 6 and 7
two-third majority two-third majority
C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S Approval of New Work
Approved as new work Approved as new work
(Step 1) (Step 1) Commission Commission Critical Review Critical Review
(CCEXEC) (CCEXEC)
yes yes no no
Redrafting of the Redrafting of the project document or project document or
abandon abandon
The preparation of The preparation of the proposed draft the proposed draft text is entrusted to a text is entrusted to a
Member(s) Member(s)
(Step 2) (Step 2)· ···
Project Project document document (Codex committee / (Codex committee / task force / Member) task force / Member)
C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S
CCEXEC reviews the proposal taking into account:
• Strategic Plan of the Codex Alimentarius Commission
• Assessment against the “Criteria for the Establishment of Work Priorities”
• Need for independent risk assessment to support the new work
• Needs of developing countries
• Necessary arrangement to carry out the task (e.g.
establishment of a committee/task force)
(Procedural Manual, “Procedures for the elaboration of Codex standards and related texts”, Part II, para. 3)
C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S Format for Project Documents
1. The purposes and the scope of the Standard 2. Relevance and timeliness
3. Main aspects to be covered
4. An assessment against the Criteria for the establishment of work priorities 5. Relevance to the Codex strategic objectives
6. Information on the relation between the proposal and other existing Codex documents
7. Identification of any requirement for and availability of expert scientific advi ce
8. Identification of any need for technical input to the standard from external b odies so that this can be planned for
9. Proposed timeline for completion of the new work
(Procedural Manual, “Procedures for the elaboration of Codex standards and related texts”, Part II, para. 1)
C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S
The Purposes and the Scope of the Standard
• Applicable to certain group of foods, or foods in general?
• Dealing with food safety, food quality, inspection/certification, ...?
• New text or partial/thorough revision?
(Sometimes self-evident from the title of the text) Example 1:
The scope is to develop Code of Good Manufacturing Practice for reduction of contamination of food with PAH from smoking and direct drying processes.
(Proposal for “Code of Practice for the Reduction of Contamination of Food with PAH from Smoking and Direct Drying Processes”)
C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S Example 2:
This proposal has the objective of revising the provisions concerning quality
(Section 2.1.1), the provisions concerning sizing (Section 3) of the Codex Standard for Avocado (CODEX STAN 197:1995) and consequential amendment to other sections of the Standard arising from the inclusion of new varieties of avocados.
(Proposal for the revision of the Standard for Avocado)
Example 3:
An elaboration of international standard for fish sauce is to provide essential guidance relating to food safety and quality for the purposes of protecting the health of the consumers and ensuring fair practice in food trade.
(Proposal for “Standard for Chili Sauce”)
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C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S
Relevance and Timeliness
• Brief justification for the need of the text (or its revision) at this point of time
• Justification may be reinforced due to:
– Recent trends in production / consumption / trade
– Advancement of related work in other committees or other international organizations
– Emerging issues in international trade
– New policy decision by the Commission, FAO/WHO
Example: WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health and subsequent actions by FAO/WHO, which led to the proposals for the Revision of Nutrient Reference Values of Vitamins and Minerals in the Guidelines for Nutrition Labelling (CAC/GL 2-1985) by the CCNFSDU
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C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S
Main Aspects to be covered
(Examples)
• New work on a commodity standard
“The standard covers essential quality and safety aspects.”
• Revision of a commodity standard
The addition of Nitrogen Factors of more fish species in Table 2 of the Amendment to the Labeling Section of the Standard of Quick Frozen Fish Sticks. The additional Nitrogen Factors will belong to fish species...
• New work on a general subject
The Guidelines would provide principles for the safe use of substances used as processing aids, the main aspects to be covered by the proposed guidelines are:
• The principles for the use of substances used as processing aids...
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C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S An Assessment against the Criteria for the
Establishment of Work Priorities
Consumer protection from the point of view of health, food safety, ensuring fair practices in the food trade and taking into account the identified needs of
developing countries.
General Criterion
7 Criteria applicable to commodities 3 Criteria applicable
to general subjects
C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S
Criteria Applicable to General Subjects
(a) Diversification of national legislations and apparent resultant or potential impediments to trade.
(b) Scope of work and establishment of priorities between the various sections of the work
(c) Work already undertaken by other international
organizations in this field and/or suggested by the
relevant international intergovernmental body(ies).
C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S Criteria Applicable to Commodities
(a) Volume of production and consumption in individual countries and volume and pattern of trade between countries.
(b) Diversification of national legislations and apparent resultant or potential impediments to international trade.
(c) International or regional market potential.
(d) Amenability of the commodity to standardisation.
(e) Coverage of the main consumer protection and trade issues by existing or proposed general standards.
(f) Number of commodities which would need separate standards indicating whether raw, semi-processed or processed.
(g) Work already undertaken by other international organizations in this field and/or suggested by the relevant international intergovernmental body(ies).
C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S (a) Volume of production and consumption in individual countries
and volume and pattern of trade between countries.
Information should be provided on:
• volume of production and consumption in individual countries expressed in monetary terms, tons, proportion of GDP, etc.;
• volume and patterns of trade, including trends in trade volume and patterns, expressed in monetary terms, tons, proportion of GDP, etc.:
– between countries,
– in intra-regional trade, i.e., between or among countries of a region, – in inter-regional trade, i.e., between or among regions.
• credible sources or citations of information and/or references in order to support credibility of the above information, if possible.
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C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S (b) Diversification of national legislations and apparent
resultant or potential impediments to international trade Information should be provided on:
• Existence of diverse national legislation that may lead to potential or actual impediments to international trade.
Evidence of such impediments may be provided as:
– quantitative information on volume and/or
– frequency of rejection of consignments, as expressed, for
example, as absolute numbers or as rates of rejection.
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C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S
(c) International or regional market potential.
Information should be provided on:
• international and/or regional market potential; and, where necessary;
• potential of regional products to enter international trade, including an analysis of current production trends as well as market potential in the foreseeable future.
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C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S
(d) Amenability of the commodity to standardisation.
Information should be provided on:
• which quality factors are essential for the identity of the product e.g. definition, composition, etc.;
• characteristics of the commodity (e.g. differences in
definition, composition, and other quality factors that may vary across countries and regions) that would have to be accommodated in the standard.
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C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S (e) Coverage of the main consumer protection and trade
issues by existing or proposed general standards.
Information should be provided on:
• whether there are overlaps or gaps with existing general standards. If gaps or overlaps are identified, the new
work proposal should explain why revision of the existing standard is not sufficient to meet the need for a
standard.
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C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S
(f) Number of commodities which would need separate standards indicating whether raw, semi-processed or processed.
• Commodity standards should preferably be developed in a generic manner to cover the relevant products
concerned.
• Information should be provided on the rationale for the need to develop separate standards indicating whether raw, semi-processed, or processed.
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C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S (g) Work already undertaken by other international organizations
in this field and/or suggested by the relevant international intergovernmental body(ies).
Information should be provided on:
• activities that have been already undertaken by other
relevant international organizations, including an analysis of areas of potential complementarities, gaps,
duplication, or conflict with the above activities.
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(See also ALINORM 08/31/3, Appendix II: “Guidelines on the Application of the Criteria for the Establishment of Work Priorities Applicable to Commodities”)
C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S
Relevance to the Codex Strategic objectives
• Review and development of Codex standards and
related texts are under Goals 1.1 – 1.5 of the Strategic Plan 2008-2013:
– Goal 1.1: food safety – Goal 1.2: food quality
– Goal 1.3: food labelling and nutrition
– Goal 1.4: food inspection/certification, methods of analysis and sampling
– Goal 1.5: antimicrobial resistance
• Any other Goals relevant to the new work proposal
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C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S Information on the relation between the proposal
and other existing Codex documents
• Whether there are any existing Codex texts covering a
subject/commodity similar with the proposed text, and if so, overlaps and/or gaps should be identified. (The new text should compliment, rather than duplicate, existing texts)
• In case of new work on a commodity standard, it may be useful to indicate if there would be any provisions
additional to general texts for food additives, contaminants, hygiene, labelling and methods of analysis and sampling (if it is foreseen at the time of new work proposal)
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C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S Identification of any requirement for and availability
of expert scientific advice
• Identify already available expert scientific advice which will be taken into consideration during the elaboration of the standard, or
• Identify the need, or possible need, of expert scientific advice from FAO/WHO, or
• None foreseen.
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C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S Identification of any need for technical input to the
standard from external bodies
• Any need for technical input from external bodies (i.e.
other than FAO/WHO) for the elaboration of the text (e.g. waiting for the finalization of related work by ISO, UNECE, OECD, OIE, etc)
or
• None foreseen (not applicable)
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C O D E X A L I M E N T A R I U S
Proposed timeline for completion of the new work
• Indicate, for example, in a tabular format:
– Start date
– Proposed dates for adoption at Step 5 and final adoption by the Commission
