22) The Committee recalled that the provisions on livestock production had been returned to Step 6 by the 27th Session for further consideration. These sections and the comments received in reply to CL 1999/10-FL were considered by the Working Group which met prior to the current Session. The Chairperson of the Working Group, Ms. Ruth Lovisolo (Australia), presented the revised sections of the Draft Guidelines to the Committee and indicated that consensus had been reached on the major provisions for livestock production, while consideration of aquaculture had been deferred until a later date. The Committee considered the following points.
23) As regards the use of the term ‘traditional’, it was agreed that this term was generally understood and used in Codex and there was no need to define it further in the Guidelines.
24) While the use of vaccines was approved under certain circumstances within the Guidelines, it was recognized that many vaccines are derived from genetic modification/engineering. It was noted that this issue was beyond the expertise of the Working Group and would need to be addressed by the organic industry in the short term. The Committee noted that the method used to obtain the vaccine is not currently a factor to determine the suitability of the vaccine in the Guidelines.
25) It was agreed that the Guidelines should not include restrictive time frames for achieving compliance and that competent authorities should have the ability to establish implementation periods depending on national requirements.
26) The Committee noted that the revision of the draft resulted in proposed consequential amendments and/or additional text to be included in the Foreword, Section 1- Scope, Section 2- Description, Section 4- Rules of Production and Preparation, Annex 1B Livestock and Livestock Products, and to Annex III.
27) The Committee agreed that the Working Group should be convened again prior to the 29th Session in order to consider the following sections: Specific Species: bees, and the list of additives and processing aids (Annex 2, Table 3). The Committee noted that the Working Group would also consider the specific amendment to the list of substances proposed by the Delegation of Malaysia (see Agenda item 10).
28) The Committee expressed its thanks to Ms. Lovisolo and to the Working Group for their constructive work in a spirit of cooperation which had allowed for considerable progress in a short time on the finalization of the livestock provisions.
Status of the Draft Guidelines for the Production Processing Labelling and Marketing of Organically Produced Foods
29) The Committee advanced the Draft Guidelines (Livestock Production) to Step 8 for adoption by the 24th Session of the Commission (see Appendix II). The Committee agreed to return to Step 6 for further comments the section on bees, and the list of additives and processing aids for livestock products (see Appendix IV).
