91996E2929

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2929/96 by Marianne Thyssen (PPE) to the Commission (8 November 1996)

Subject: Decision-making procedure in the Codex Alimentarius

Since the start of the World Trade Organization (WTO) the degree of enforceability of certain standards adopted in the framework of the Codex Alimentarius has increased.

As the Commission is aware, in the Codex Alimentarius decisions are taken by a simple majority of votes cast.

As these standards have an indirect influence on the content of European legislation, it would seem appropriate for the Commission to recommend the Member States to press in the Codex Alimentarius for a change in the decision-making procedure so that it would relate to the actual impact which the Codex standards will have in future.

Does the Commission intend to take steps in this direction?

Answer given by Mr Bangemann on behalf of the Commission (2 December 1996)

The standards and other instruments adopted under the Codex Alimentarius are not, strictly speaking, mandatory, but serve as reference works if there is a dispute concerning the justification of any measure preventing or hampering the international trade in a foodstuff. Indeed, two agreements drawn up under the World Trade Organization, of which one concerns technical barriers to trade and the other health and plant-health measures, assign that role to the Codex instruments.

The Commission fully shares the view of the Honourable Member whereby certain of the voting rules currently applying within the Codex are no longer appropriate, given the importance now assumed by the standards and other instruments deriving from the Codex. It hopes that this problem may be examined and settled in a satisfactory manner during a subsequent session of the Codex committee dealing with general principles.