Food and Agriculture Organization World Health of the United Nations Organization Report of the EVALUATION OF THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS AND OTHER FAO AND WHO FOOD STANDARDS WORK Acknowledgements The evaluators wish to express their appreciation to all those from Government and the International Community who were so helpful and willingly provided information and their thoughts on the Codex and other aspects of food standards work through questionnaires and during country visits and other meetings. Similar thanks go to FAO and WHO senior and technical staff in Headquarters, Regional and Country Offices who were prepared to put at the evaluators’ disposal the time needed to respond to the many questions we raised. Particular votes of thanks go to: Maria Gattone, Gemma Harper, Nadine Monnichon and Heather Young, at FAO, Christine Perry and Mary Vallanjon at WHO and Seoung-Yong Lee of the Codex Secretariat for their tireless patience and effort in organizing contractual and logistic matters, and in assisting with questionnaire and other supporting analysis for the evaluation. Report of: Evaluation Team: Independent Expert Panel: W. Bruce Traill, Team Leader Alejandro Cravioto, Chairperson Rachel Bedouin Irina du Bois Katharine Gourlie Ken Buckle Jerri Husch Dilma Scala Gelli Alicia Lustre Spencer Henson Anwarul Hoda Liu Xiumei Diane McCrea Ruth K. Oniang’o Kaye Wachsmuth 15 November 2002 CONTENTS Abbreviations Used in the Text .......................................................................................................4 Executive Summary .........................................................................................................................6 1. BACKGROUND AND CONDUCT OF THE EVALUATION................................................10 2. OVERVIEW OF CODEX AND OTHER FAO AND WHO FOOD STANDARDS WORK ..11 3. THE ROLES OF FOOD STANDARDS AND SOME ISSUES FOR THE EVALUATION...12 3.1 The Roles of Food Standards...............................................................................................12 3.2 Core Themes for the Evaluation ..........................................................................................14 4. EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CODEX...............................................15 4.1 The Present Scope of Codex Work and Codex Working Procedures..................................15 4.1.1 Committee Structure ....................................................................................................16 4.1.2 Standard Setting and Adoption .....................................................................................18 4.1.3 Consensus-based Decision Making .............................................................................18 4.1.4 Observers .....................................................................................................................19 4.1.5 Priority Setting .............................................................................................................19 4.1.6 Roles of Science and ‘Other Legitimate Factors’ ........................................................19 4.1.7 Resources ......................................................................................................................20 4.2 Procedures in Other International Standard Setting Bodies.................................................20 4.3 Findings and Proposals on the Usefulness of Codex, Prioritization, Scope of Work and Mandate......................................................................................................................................23 4.3.1 Findings on the Usefulness of Codex ...........................................................................23 4.3.2 Scope and Prioritization of Codex Work ......................................................................24 4.3.3 A Clear Mandate for Codex .........................................................................................28 4.3.4 WTO and Codex ...........................................................................................................29 4.4 Reform of Codex.................................................................................................................30 4.4.1 Degree of Independence of Codex...............................................................................30 4.4.2 Links to OIE and IPPC.................................................................................................30 4.4.3 Findings and Recommendations for Codex Organization and Procedures..................31 4.5 Communication...................................................................................................................43 4.6 Increased Resources for Codex............................................................................................44 5. INDEPENDENT RISK ASSESSMENT – EXPERT SCIENTIFIC INPUT TO CODEX.......45 5.1 Existing Arrangements for Expert Advice...........................................................................45 5.2 Effectiveness of Expert Advice............................................................................................45 5.3 Priority Setting ....................................................................................................................46 5.4 Speed and Efficiency of Advice..........................................................................................47 5.5 Are Outputs of Risk Assessments in a Suitable form for Risk Managers?.........................48 5.6 Quality of Scientific Advice and Data Used.......................................................................49 5.7 Independence of Experts.....................................................................................................50 5.8 Transparency.......................................................................................................................50 5.9 A Way Forward...................................................................................................................51 5.10 Immediate Resource Implications.....................................................................................53 6. FAO AND WHO CAPACITY BUILDING IN RELATION TO FOOD STANDARDS........55 6.1 Members’ Needs and the Emphases of the FAO and WHO Programmes...........................56 6.2 Policy and Institutional Arrangements in FAO and WHO ..................................................58 6.3 FAO Capacity-building Activities .......................................................................................59 2 6.3.1 Volume of FAO’s Work Related to Capacity Building................................................59 6.3.2 Training and Workshops...............................................................................................59 6.3.3 FAO Project Activities..................................................................................................60 6.4 WHO Capacity-building Activities......................................................................................61 6.4.1 Volume of WHO’s Work Related to Capacity Building ..............................................61 6.4.2 Regional Strategies and Workshops .............................................................................61 6.5 Extent of WHO and FAO Collaboration on Capacity Building ..........................................62 6.6 Financing Capacity Building for Food Safety: Global Initiatives .......................................62 6.6.1 FAO/WHO Trust Fund .................................................................................................63 6.6.2 Global Facility for Capacity Building in Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Measures ........63 6.6.3 FAO Trust Funds for Food Safety ................................................................................63 6.7 Areas for Improvement .......................................................................................................64 6.7.1 Improved In-Country Coordination by FAO and WHO...............................................64 6.7.2 New Challenges ............................................................................................................64 6.7.3 Mobilizing Funds for Capacity Building ......................................................................65 6.8 The Role of Codex in Capacity Building.............................................................................65 7. IN CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................65 Contribution of the Recommendations to the Four Key Objectives of the Evaluation .............66 Annex 1: Members of the Evaluation Team and Expert Panel......................................................69 Annex 2: Working Terms of Reference.........................................................................................70 Annex 3: Resource Use and Resource Requirements for Food standards Work...........................73 Annex 4: Summary of Analysis of Questionnaires........................................................................79 Annex 5: Countries and International Organizations Visited ........................................................96 Annex 6: Bibliography of Major Documents Prepared and Consulted for the Evaluation ...........98 Annex 7: Methodology of the Evaluation....................................................................................100 3 Abbreviations Used in the Text ADI Acceptable Daily Intake AFC Arab Federation of Consumers ALOP Acceptable