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...

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 PACIFICDenpasar , Indonesia13-15 November 2008


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 procedure

normalnormalCommission Decision to elaborate Commission Decision to elaborate

a new texta new text

STEP 1STEP 1

Rapporteur develops Rapporteur develops

proposed draft textproposed draft text

STEP 2STEP 2

Text is sent for comments to Text is sent for comments to

members and observersmembers and observers

STEP 3STEP 3

Comments are forwarded Comments are forwarded

to the Committeeto the Committee

STEP 4STEP 4

Text is sent through CCEXEC Text is sent through CCEXEC

to the Commission for adoption to the Commission for adoption

as draft standardas draft standard

STEP 5STEP 5



STEP 6STEP 6



STEP 7STEP 7


to the Commission to the Commission

for final adoption for final adoption

STEP 8STEP 8

acceleratedaccelerated

two-third majoritytwo-third majority

Commission Decision to elaborate Commission Decision to elaborate

a new texta new text

STEP 1STEP 1

Rapporteur develops Rapporteur develops

proposed draft textproposed draft text

STEP 2STEP 2



STEP 3STEP 3



STEP 4STEP 4


to the Commission for adoption to the Commission for adoption

as draft standardas draft standard

STEP 5STEP 5




STEP 8STEP 8

Decision to omitDecision to omit

steps 6 and 7steps 6 and 7




STEP 8STEP 8

omit steps 6 and 7omit steps 6 and 7

two-third majoritytwo-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 workApproved as new work(Step 1)(Step 1)

CommissionCommission

Critical ReviewCritical Review (CCEXEC)(CCEXEC)

yesyes

nonoRedrafting of the Redrafting of the project document or project document or

abandonabandon

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 documentdocument(Codex committee / (Codex committee /

task force / Member)task force / Member)


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 Documents1. 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 advice

8. Identification of any need for technical input to the standard from external bodies 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)


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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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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Main Aspects to be covered

(Examples)• New work on a commodity standard“The standard covers essential quality and safety aspects.”

• Revision of a commodity standardThe 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 subjectThe 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... Back

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


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. Back


(c) International or regional market potential.


• 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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(d) Amenability of the commodity to standardisation.


• 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.


• 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).


• 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”)


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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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

• The timeframe should not normally exceed 5 years.


Thank youThank you

Any Any questionsquestions

??


• What are the practical difficulties you have faced, or will face, during the preparation of project documents?

• How will you overcome such difficulties?