§ Mr. IllsleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the names of the British representatives on the Codex Alimentarius Commission together with its(a) terms of reference, (b) decision-making procedures and (c) voting methods. [3102]
§ Mrs. BrowningThe Codex Alimentarius Commission is an intergovernmental body established by the Food and Agriculture Organisation and World Health Organisation
to guide and promote the elaboration and establishment of definitions and requirements for foods, to assist in their harmonisation and, in doing so, to facilitate international trade".The commission is assisted in its work by 29 committees. Some deal with general matters, that is labelling; some with specific commodities, that is, fish and fishery products; and some are regional committees. The UK is represented by officials from this and other Government Departments. Representatives of industry and consumer organisations may also attend.
The commission determines the need for a standard and arranges for it to be drafted. There then follows an eight-step procedure—which can in certain circumstances
January February March April May June July August September October November December 1989 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1990 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 0 2 4 0 1 1991 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 3 1 0 1 2 1992 0 1 1 3 1 0 0 2 1 3 0 1 1993 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 1 3 1 1 1994 1 2 2 1 0 0 2 0 2 2 2 0 1995 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 19961 1 — — — — — — — — — — — 1Data incomplete. No earlier cases have been identified. We have no evidence to suggest that under reporting of FSE cases occurs.
- 1. The data do not include five cases confirmed in 1996 for which detailed information is not yet available.
- 2. Previous figures supplied for numbers of FSE cases have been on the basis of year of administrative confirmation and not on the basis of date of clinical onset of disease as is the case with the above. It would not be appropriate to provide monthly figures by the month of confirmation because of the time lag between suspicion and confirmation. The above figures will therefore not necessarily reflect previous figures given.