INFORMATION ON ACTIVITIES
Communication
from the Codex Alimentarius Commission (codex)
The following communication, received on 5 July 2023, is being circulated at the request
of the Codex secretariat.
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1 INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE MEETINGS
1.1 43rd Session of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and
Foods for Special Dietary Uses (Düsseldorf, Germany, 7-10 March 2023)
1.1. CCNFSDU43 completed the revision of the Standard for follow-up
formula (CXS 156-1987) (renamed the Standard for Follow-up Formula for Older
Infants and Product for Young Children).
1.2. CCNFSDU43 also amended the Standard for Canned Baby Foods (CXS
73-1981) and the Advisory list of nutrient compounds for use in foods for
special dietary uses intended for infants and young children (CXG 10-1979).
1.3. These texts will be forwarded to CAC46 (2023) for final adoption.
1.2 53rd Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives
(Hong Kong, China, 27‑31 March 2023)
1.4. CCFA53 finalized the specifications for the identity and purity of
several substances for addition to the List of Codex Specifications for Food
Additives (CXA 6-2021).
1.5. CCFA53 also finalized the revision of the Class Names and the
International Numbering System for Food Additives (CXG 36-1989), the alignment
of provisions for food additives in 19 commodity standards with the General
Standard for Food Additives (CXS 192-1995) (GSFA) including one set of
guidelines.
1.6. CCFA53 also finalized around 800 new/revised maximum levels (MLs)
for food additives for inclusion in the GSFA, which includes provisions for beta-carotenes,
riboflavin and trisodium citrate as well as food additives in wine.
1.7. These provisions will be forwarded to CAC46 for final adoption.
1.3 16th Session of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in
Foods (Utrecht, Netherlands, 18-21 April 2023)
1.8. CCCF16 finalized MLs for lead for soft brown, raw, and
non-centrifugal sugars, and ready-to‑eat meals for infants and young children
as well as MLs for ochratoxin A and total aflatoxins in chili pepper, paprika
and nutmeg respectively.
1.9. CCCF16 also finalized the Code of practice for the prevention and
reduction of mycotoxin contamination in cassava and cassava-based products and
the sampling plans for total aflatoxins in certain cereals and cereal-based
products including foods for infants and young children the latter being
integral to the application of MLs for the aforesaid food categories already
adopted by CAC45 (2022).
1.10. CCCF16 further agreed to recommend approval of new work on guidance
to prevent or reduce ciguatera poisoning (e.g. application of surveillance and
monitoring programs, food safety management systems, data sharing, etc.). The
document will build on and complement available guidance from FAO and WHO and
other international organizations in this regard.
1.11. These MLs and texts will be forwarded to CAC46 for final adoption
and approval of new work respectively.
1.12. CCCF16 continues work on the establish of MLs for lead in culinary
herbs (fresh/dried) and spices (dried), total aflatoxins in ready-to-eat
peanuts and associated sampling plan, sampling plans for ochratoxin A and total
aflatoxins (chili pepper, paprika and nutmeg) and other matters that may lead
to new work in future.
1.4 26th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Import and
Export Inspection and Certification Systems (Hobart, Australia, 1-5 May 2023)
1.13. CCFICS26 finalized the Guidelines on recognition and maintenance of
equivalence of National Food Control Systems (NFCS) and the Principles and
guidelines on the use of remote audit and inspection in regulatory frameworks.
1.14. CCFICS26 agreed to recommend approval by CAC46 (2023) new work on
the review and update of the Principles for Traceability/Product tracing as a
tool within a food inspection and certification system (CXG 60-2006).
1.15. These will be forwarded to CAC46 for final adoption and approval of
new work respectively.
1.16. CCFICS26 will continue work on guidelines on the prevention and
control of food fraud, the consolidated Codex Guidelines related to
equivalence, and the list of emerging issues relevant to its work.
1.5 47th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labeling
(Ottawa, Canada, 15‑19 May 2023)
1.17. CCFL47 continued work on the elaboration of guidelines on the
provision of food information for pre-packaged foods to be offered via
e-Commerce; guidelines on the use of technology to provide food information;
and the revision to provisions relevant to allergen labelling in the General
Standard for the Labelling of Pre-packaged Foods (CXS 1-1985).
1.18. These texts will be forwarded to CAC46 for preliminary adoption and
further development by CCFL48 (2023).
1.6 42nd Session of the Codex Committee on Methods of
Analysis and Sampling (Budapest, Hungary, 13–16 June 2023)
1.19. The meeting report will be published in the coming weeks on the CCMAS42 webpage and further
information will be provided to the next session of the SPS committee.
1.7 54th Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues
(CCPR54, Beijing, China, 26 June – 1 July 2023)
1.20. The meeting report will be published in the coming weeks on the CCPR54 webpage and further
information will be provided to the next session of the SPS committee.
1.8 Other matters
1.21. Further information on the work of these committees can be found in
the report of the Session available on the Codex website: _CCNFSDU43, _CCFA53, _CCCF16, _CCFICS26, _CCFL47. The reports of CCMAS42
and CCPR54 will be available on the meeting webpages shortly.
2 FORTHCOMING CODEX MEETINGS OF SPS RELEVANCE (As of July 2023. See
the Codex website for the full meeting calendar)
2.1 CCEXEC
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84th
Session of the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CCEXEC84, Geneva, Switzerland,
10-14 July 2023) (physical)
2.2 International committee meetings
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33rd
Session of the Codex Committee on General Principles (CCGP33, Bordeaux, France, 2‑6 October
2023) (physical)
2.1. Regular updates on the status of work of these Committees are published
on their dedicated webpages: CCEXEC84, CCGP33.
2.2. For specific questions on the status of work in Codex committees of
interest to SPS delegates please check the dedicated webpages or send an email
to codex@fao.org.
3 GENERAL
3.1. The Codex Secretariat in collaboration with Host Country
Secretariats are continuing to convene virtual and physical working group
meetings and webinars in advance of Codex subsidiary sessions to support
delegations’ preparations and facilitate discussions and consensus-building in
plenary. Further information is available on the Committee webpages and the Codex calendar.
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