Codex Committee on General Principles

2-6 April 2012

Staff Report – International Council of Grocery Manufacturers Association (ICGMA)

The Codex Committee on General Principles (CCGP) held its twenty-seventh session in Paris April 2-6, 2012. GMA’s Peggy Rochette provided the leadership for the ICGMA delegation.

Most of the work of the CCGP focuses on procedural issues related to Codex. In this regard, the Committee discussed the general terms of reference for the work of the committee, report content and document distribution, risk analysis principles and definitions forwarded by other committees and the possible development of joint standards by Codex and OIE. The committee also had a significant dialogue about economic impact analysis as related to standards development and procedural issues related to “Standards Held at Step 8.” This issue is important to ICGMA because it challenges the Codex “Principles of Science” in that some delegations want to reopen discussion on “Other Legitimate Factors” that may be taken into account.

Standards Held at Step 8. On rare occasions, when it seems impossible to reach consensus, the Codex Alimentarius Commission has held standards at Step 8 without adoption. This has occurred in the case of two veterinary drugs and a commodity standard for bitter cassava. In the case of veterinary drugs (RActopamine and R-BST), the standard has been scientifically justified but has been held for political reasons by Codex member countries (the European Union). At the Commission meeting in July 2009, the Codex Chairperson asked CCGP to consider this issue and a procedure for management of the problem. ICGMA did not support new work in this area because of the entrenched positions, the politics and the expenditure of finite Codex resources. ICGMA participated in the working group to underscore the importance of science based Codex standards. Netherlands and Canada co-chaired the work and presented seven options to address Step 8 standards; CCGP rejected suggested changes to the Procedural Manual or the critical review process for new work. It was agreed that the EU and the U.S. would co-chair a “facilitated” working group in conjunction with the 2013 Commission meeting focused on identifying the “root causes” for holding standards at step 8. The facilitators would be the three Codex Vice Chairs.

Economic Impact Analysis. In 2010 Malaysia, supported by several developing countries expressed the view that a mechanism should be developed to examine any economic impact of Codex standards. Malaysia chaired an electronic working group and presented options for a template for economic analyses. The options presented were not widely supported. ICGMA also did not support this work, fearing it would result in slowing the Codex process and undermine the ability to produce important food safety standards and guidelines. Australia volunteered to work with Malaysia to “pragmatically” explain how committees can consider balancing economic impract of measure with food safety issues.

Joint Codex OIE Standards. For several years, OIE has approached Codex proposing the development of joint standards on issues where animal health may impact food safety. Codex delegates have not supported this proposal because of the difference in the organization’s procedures, transparency and inclusiveness. It was agreed that Canada would lead a working group to explore “collaboration” between the two organizations in a manner that would respect separate procedures and mandates.

Informational Reference Materials. The Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF) developed a document providing guidance on “Risk Management Options” that had not been elaborated through the Codex Step process but was deemed a valuable tool that could be useful to other Codex Committees and to national governments. GMA staff had worked with US government officials to develop this tool. Codex has no established process to retain this type of information reference material in an accessible manner but CCGP noted that other Committees had also created valuable food safety references and supported enhancing the Codex process to accommodate this information. The U.S. agreed to chair a working group to develop criteria for selecting documents and an avenue to make these documents accessible through Codex.

Side Event on Ractopamine. For several years, Codex has been unable to reach consensus on Maximum Residue Levels for the veterinary drug Ractopamine in spite of 3 scientific reviews by JECFA. The European Union and China have blocked the standard because of national prohibitions (EU) and the lack of full data on lung tissue (China). As a side event in Paris, the Codex Chair, Sanjay Davy of India, chaired a facilitated discussion in an attempt to find a resolution to the impasse. No progress was made.

Next session.

The next meeting of CCGP is expected to be held in Paris in April 2014.

Staff Contact: Peggy Rochette,

ICGMA Staff Report on CCGP

April 13, 2012

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