CRITICAL REVIEW*
*From the Procedural Manual of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, "Procedures for the Elaboration of Codex Standards and Related Texts, Part 2".
Proposals to Undertake New Work or to Revise a Standard
1. Prior to approval for development, each proposal for new work or revision of a standard shall be accompanied by a project document, prepared by the Committee or Member proposing new work or revision of a standard, detailing:
- the purposes and the scope of the standard;
- its relevance and timeliness;
- the main aspects to be covered;
- an assessment against the Criteria for the establishment of work priorities;
- relevance to the Codex strategic objectives;
- information on the relation between the proposal and other existing Codex documents;
- identification of any requirement for and availability of expert scientific advice;
- identification of any need for technical input to the standard from external bodies so that this can be planned for;
- the proposed time-line for completion of the new work, including the start date, the proposed date for adoption at Step 5, and the proposed date for adoption by the Commission; the time frame for developing a standard should not normally exceed five years.
2. The decision to undertake new work or to revise standards shall be taken by the Commission taking into account a critical review conducted by the Executive Committee.
3. The critical review includes:
- examination of proposals for development/revision of standards, taking into account the "Criteria for the Establishment of Work Priorities", the strategic plan of the Commission and the required supporting work of independent risk assessment;
- identifying the standard setting needs of developing countries;
- advice on establishment and dissolution of committees and task forces, including ad hoc cross-committee task forces (in areas where work falls within several committee mandates); and
- preliminary assessment of the need for expert scientific advice and the availability of such advice from FAO, WHO or other relevant expert bodies, and the prioritisation of that advice.
4. The decision to undertake new work or revision of individual maximum residue limits for pesticides or veterinary drugs, or the maintenance of the General Standard on Food Additives1, the General Standard on Contaminants and Toxins in Foods2, the Food Categorisation System and the International Numbering System, shall follow the procedures established by the Committees concerned and endorsed by the Commission.
Monitoring Progress of Standards Development
5. The Executive Committee shall review the status of development of draft standards against the time frame agreed by the Commission and shall report its findings to the Commission.
6. The Executive Committee may propose an extension of the time frame; cancellation of work; or propose that the work be undertaken by a Committee other than the one to which it was originally entrusted, including the establishment of a limited number of subsidiary bodies, if appropriate.
7. The critical review process shall ensure that progress in the development of standards is consistent with the envisaged time frame, that draft standards submitted to the Commission for adoption have been fully considered at Committee level.
8. Monitoring shall take place against the time-line deemed necessary and revisions in the coverage of the standard shall need to be specifically endorsed by the Commission.
This shall therefore include:
- monitoring of progress in developing standards and advising what corrective action should be taken;
- examining proposed standards from Codex committees, before they are submitted to the Commission for adoption:
- for consistency with the mandate of Codex, the decisions of the Commission, and existing Codex texts,
- to ensure that the requirements of the endorsement procedure have been fulfilled, where appropriate,
- for format and presentation, and
- for linguistic consistency.
1 including related methods of analysis and sampling plans
2 including related methods of analysis and sampling plans