Matters Arising From the Codex Alimentarius Commission and Other Codex Committees (Agenda Item 4(A))
Risk Assessment/Analysis in Codex: Recommendations of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation (Agenda Item 4(B))
BIOTECHNOLOGY
5. The Codex Alimentarius Commission, at its 21st Session, had approved the strategic planning approach for implementing the Medium-Term Plan. It had also approved the Project Plans submitted to it and requested the relevant Committees to take immediate action as required in respect of the Project Plans. The CCRVDF had been identified as being involved in the Programme Areas of risk analysis[2] and biotechnology.
6. Following discussion of the proposed Project Plans for biotechnology, the Committee agreed that at this stage it did not wish to provide further input to the Commission. However, it expressed interest in reviewing future documents on this issue.
RESIDUES OF VETERINARY DRUGS IN MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS
7. The Codex Committee on Milk and Milk Products, at its First Session, had considered the contaminant provisions in revised standards and recognized that veterinary drugs could be carried over from raw milk into processed products. It had requested the CCRVDF to consider whether this should be specifically taken into account and, if so, how.
8. Many delegations stated that setting MRLs for raw milk was sufficient to control residues of veterinary drugs in milk and milk products as monitoring of residues was most efficient and effective at as early a stage as possible in the food processing chain. However, it was pointed out that milk and milk products are ingested by susceptible populations, including babies and infants, which might lead to health concerns.
9. After some discussion, the Committee decided to accept the offer of the Delegation of the United States, with assistance provided by France, Switzerland, Thailand and the United Kingdom, to review the Codex Guidelines for the Establishment of a Regulatory Programme for Control of Veterinary Drug Residues in Foods to assess whether these address appropriately the issue of control of veterinary drug residues in raw milk and milk products and to prepare a paper for consideration at the 10th Session.
10. The Committee noted that the 21st Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission had considered[4] the report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on the Application of Risk Analysis to Food Standards Issues[5], which was held in Geneva from 13-17 March 1995.
11. The Commission had agreed that there was a need for further clarification of terms and definitions used for risk analysis and comments were subsequently solicited under circular letter CL 1995/40-CAC. This drew the attention of governments to amendments proposed for the terms risk communication (to include explicit reference to consumers), risk assessment (to include reference to severity of effects) and risk characterization (to include reference to probability).
12. The Commission had also recommended further work on risk management, risk communication and definition of the roles and responsibilities of the different bodies involved in risk analysis as well as on the uncertainty and variability in risk analysis in relation to standard setting and food regulation.
13. The Commission had agreed that the Report and recommendations of the Consultation should be examined by relevant Codex committees, including the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods. The Commission had also noted the problems of developing countries in regard to implementing the risk analysis approach in their food regulations.
14. The Committee supported the incorporation of a science-based approach to risk analysis into its work, and agreed that a discussion paper would be developed under the direction of France, with assistance provided by Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and the United States, for consideration at its 10th session. The paper should address the possible implementation of the recommendations of the FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on the Application of Risk Analysis to Food Standards Issues as they applied to the work of CCRVDF, and to consider initiatives undertaken by other Codex committees.
