AD-HOC TASK FORCE ON ANIMAL FEED MEETING IN MAY

UNCLAS ROME 000620 SIPDIS STATE FOR OES/ETC - NEUMANN, EB/TPP/BTT - MALAC AND IO/EDA - KOTOK USDA FOR FAS - REICH AND HUGHES AND FSIS ESCARBOUGH FROM US MISSION TO THE UN AGENCIES FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR ETRD FAO SUBJECT: AD-HOC TASK FORCE ON ANIMAL FEED MEETING IN MAY 2004 REF: (A) 03 ROME 2210, (B) 03 ROME 5197 (C) 03 STATE 301407 ¶1. SUMMARY: THIS IS A BACKGROUND MESSAGE FOR THE SUBJECT MEETING THAT WILL TAKE PLACE MAY 17-19, 2004 IN COPENHAGEN. THIS TASK FORCE IS DRAFTING A CODEX CODE OF GOOD PRACTICE FOR ANIMAL FEEDING. THE LANGUAGE IN THE DRAFT CODEX DOCUMENT INCLUDES PARAGRAPHS THAT ARE NOT CONSISTENT WITH US APPROACHES AND DO NOT REFLECT COMPROMISE LANGUAGE THAT WAS REACHED BILATERALLY BETWEEN THE EU AND THE US. ¶2. THE MOST RECENT FAO MEETING HELD ON THIS SUBJECT WAS THE JOINT INTERNATIONAL FEED INDUSTRY FEDERATION (IFIF)/FAO CONFERENCE ON FEED SAFETY, ROME, OCTOBER 29- 31, 2003. ROY BARRETT, FSTSD, FAS AND EDITH KENNARD, US CODEX OFFICE ATTENDED. THE CONFERENCE PROVIDED AN OVERVIEW OF THE STATUS OF THE CODEX CODE OF GOOD PRACTICE FOR ANIMAL FEEDING CURRENTLY UNDER DISCUSSION IN THE CODEX AD-HOC TASK FORCE ON ANIMAL FEEDING, AS WELL AS OF FEED SAFETY AND CONTROL PRACTICES CURRENTLY EMPLOYED BY THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS, PARTICULARLY IN REGARD TO FEED ADDITIVES, CONTAMINANTS, AND BSE. FAO SUGGESTIONS ON HOW AN INTERNATIONAL CODE OF PRACTICE FOR ANIMAL FEEDING SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED WERE ALSO DISCUSSED. ¶3. DURING THIS MEETING IT BECAME APPARENT THAT THERE CONTINUES TO BE CONFUSION ABOUT THE TEXT THAT IS BEING DISCUSSED. IN PARTICULAR, PARAGRAPHS 11, 12, AND 13 OF THE DRAFT CODE DEALING WITH LABELING AND TRACEABILITY OF FEEDSTUFFS WERE CONSIDERED CONTROVERSIAL AT THE MOST RECENT CODEX COMMISSION MEETING (ROME 2003). THE US AND THE EU HAD DEVELOPED JOINTLY, COMPROMISE LANGUAGE, BUT THIS HAD NOT BEEN INCORPORATED IN THE DRAFT CODEX CODE OF PRACTICE. IT WAS AGREED THAT COMMENTS ON THESE PARAGRAPHS SHOULD BE RECEIVED IN PREPARATION FOR THE NEXT AD-HOC TASK FORCE MEETING TO HE HELD IN COPENHAGEN IN 17- 19 MAY 2004. ¶4. PRIOR TO THE SUBJECT MAY MEETING INVOLVED US AGENCIES NEED TO REVIEW THEIR POSITION ON THIS CODE WITH THE RELEVANT EU OFFICES AND IN LIGHT OF THE BSE CASE IN THE US. ¶5. THE CODEX SECRETARIAT FOR THE CODEX AD-HOC TASK FORCE ON ANIMAL FEED STRESSED TO BARRETT/KENNARD THAT PRIOR TO THE COPENHAGEN MEETING THERE WILL NEED TO BE SIGNIFICANT OUTREACH EFFORT TO ENSURE THAT ASIAN AND LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES AGREE WITH ANY COMPROMISED TEXT. HALL NNNN 2004ROME00620 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED