Consideration of the Relationship between the Analytical Result, the Measurement Uncertainty and the Specification in Codex Standards[22]
70. The Delegation of the United Kingdom, supported by several delegations, proposed that guidance should be prepared on the interpretation of analytical results in relation to the compliance to the specifications in Codex Standards since there were differences in the treatment of analytical errors in the interpretation of results. The Committee agreed to request the United Kingdom, in collaboration with Finland, France, Ireland, Netherlands and the United States, to prepare a paper on this issue for consideration by the Committee at its next Session. It also agreed that since the issue involved measurement uncertainty, it would be discussed under the agenda item for measurement uncertainty (see also paras 42-46).
71. The Delegation of the United Kingdom noted that it would be of interest for this Committee to follow the progress of matters taken place in other bodies regarding “fitness-for-purpose” of food analysis and sampling.
Registration of Laboratories
72. Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Portugal, Spain and Uruguay jointly suggested that the idea of an “International Registration of Laboratories of Non-compulsory and Consultative Nature” be considered for promoting technical exchange in the field of competence of laboratories. It was stated that this specialized laboratories might be considered as potential participants for interlaboratory tests that might be useful in achieving full validation of methods. It was emphasized that it was not easy for developing countries to coordinate inter-laboratory tests and the creation of such a registration system would facilitate full validation of methods.
73. The Delegation of the Netherlands informed the Committee that a new version of the Who’s Who in Food Chemistry had become available and that it includes a number of food analysts.
Revision of Volume 13
74. The Committee was informed that the publication of a revised version of the Codex Alimentarius, Volume 13, was planned in the latter half of the year 1999. The new version would include, in addition to the updated data base of the endorsed methods and other contents of the current version: (1) the adopted harmonized protocols and guidelines by reference; and (2) those methods stated only in Codex standards.
Translation of Working Documents and Draft Reports
75. The Delegation of France expressed a serious concern about the late availability of the French version of working documents, and to some extent the Spanish version, which made the preparation for the Session very difficult and requested timely translation of working documents into French and Spanish. The Delegation also requested the translation of the draft reports of future sessions into French and offered to provide a French rapporteur to help the translation process. The Delegation of Spain also offered to provide a Spanish rapporteur for the translation of the draft reports into Spanish. The Chairperson promised to provide the French and Spanish versions of the draft reports at future sessions.
