The Commission, which
traditionally met once every two years, will now meet
yearly in response to the joint evaluation, which called
on Codex to speed up its work and adapt to the
ever-increasing demands of member countries.
In 2003, the World
Health Assembly called on Codex to become more effective
at managing health risks in food.
And now, as food
safety issues are increasingly seen in a context that
runs from the farm to the consumer's table, FAO and WHO
have urged the Codex Commission to seek additional ways
to address risks throughout the food chain.
Animal feeding
In response, the
Codex Commission is set to approve a Code of Practice on
Good Animal Feeding that would establish a feed safety
system for food producing animals.
It would take into
account relevant aspects of animal health and the
environment in order to minimize risks to the health of
consumers.
The Codex Commission
is also expected to formally approve work to revise the
23-year-old Recommended International Code of Practice
for Foods for Infants and Children.
The revision will
particularly take into account issues related to
contamination by Enterobacter sakazakii in infant
formula.
The Commission will
consider re-establishing the ad hoc Intergovernmental
Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology.
The aim is to keep up
with the fast-changing applications of gene technologies
and the increasing interest of consumers in the
potential health impact of genetically modified foods.
Participation of
developing countries
Setting international
food standards requires the participation by all
countries, including developing ones.
Since March 2004, the
FAO/WHO Codex Trust Fund has supported the participation
of nine countries in Codex technical committee meetings
and more than 30 countries have been funded to attend
the present session of the Codex Commission.
"Improving members'
involvement in the Codex decision-making process is not
just a matter of traveling to meetings. Participation
must also be effective, in other words, based on
strengthened capacities at the national level to
establish and administer food control systems," said Mr.
Hartwig de Haen, FAO Assistant Director-General.
FAO and WHO technical
assistance programmes support the efforts of developing
countries to strengthen their national food safety
systems to protect local consumers and to take advantage
of international food trade opportunities.
