ANNOTATIONS
1. Adoption of the agenda
TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2005/1
According to the Commission's Rules of Procedure, the
first item on the provisional agenda shall be the adoption of the agenda.
2. Matters of interest arising since the
last session TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2005/2
Delegations
will be informed about the work of interest that has taken place in different
groups within and outside UNECE.
(a) UNECE
- Committee for Trade, Industry and
Enterprise Development
- United Nations Centre for Trade
Facilitation and Electronic Commerce
- Working Party on Technical
Harmonization and Standardization Policy
- Working Party on Transport of
Perishable Foodstuffs
(b) Other organizations:
- Codex Alimentarius Commission and
Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
- European Union
- OECD Scheme for the Application of
International Standards for Fruit and Vegetables
3. Proposals to revise
UNECE Standards
(a) Kiwi fruit
[TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2005/3
(United States)]
At the last session the delegation of the United
States proposed to prepare a proposal on sizing by diameter.
(b) Melons [TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2005/4 (Switzerland, France)]
The delegations of Switzerland and France proposed to
clarify the commercial types in the standard as they are used in the marking
and maturity requirements. The Specialized Section agreed that this could be
useful if it would not complicate the standard.
(c) Table grapes [TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2005/5
(South Africa)]
At the last session
the Specialized Section decided to ask South Africa to prepare a new proposal based on the comments made
and by merging in the list proposed by Turkey. All interested delegations
should send any further comments directly to South Africa.
The issue
of trade-marked varieties with special requirements will be dealt with once the
list was completed.
4. UNECE Recommendations in trial period
(a) Apples
TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2004/9
(New Zealand)
[TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2005/6 (Secretariat)]
TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2005/7 (New Zealand) [TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2005/8 (European Community)]
[TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2005/9
(Copa-Cogeca)]
The text of the recommendation will finish its trial
period in November 2005. The following issues will be discussed at the session:
- Weight/diameter relationship for the
determination of the minimum size and uniformity provisions
At the last
session several options were discussed but delegations felt that more time was
needed to study them.
- Maturity requirements
At the last
session this issue was discussed in detail. All interested delegations were
invited to provide data on brix values and flesh firmness to the secretariat as
had been done by New Zealand in document 2004/9.
List of varieties
The delegation of
Germany sent
a request to their Federal Office on Variety Protection concerning the variety
Rubin. The answer was that they only know the Czech variety (Golden Delicious x
Lord Lambourne) and no other variety of Rubin is known by them.
Concerning
the variety Rubin (Kazakhstan) it should carefully be checked whether Rubin is
the true variety name, whether synonyms are known and whether any information
could be provided to highlight the difference between the two Rubin varieties.
(b) Bilberries and blueberries [TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2005/10 (France)]
The text of the recommendation will finish its trial
period in November 2005.
The delegation of France and the secretariat will
report on the replies to a questionnaire they sent to producer countries
concerning the correct denomination of Billberries or Blueberries in
different languages.
(c) Early
and Ware Potatoes
TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2004/7 (Text of the recommendation in
trial period)
TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2005/11 (France)
TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2005/12 (Belgium)
The text of the recommendation will finish its trial
period in November 2005.
The joint standard for Early and Ware Potatoes
(TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2004/7) was adopted as UNECE recommendation for a one-year
trial period to allow comments from interested parties. The trade organization
EUROPATAT had indicated to the secretariat that some of their members were not
in favor of a joint standard but up to now no written justification was
available.
The delegations of France and Belgium have submitted
proposals for the amendment of the standard.
(d) Plums
TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2005/13 (Germany)
The delegation of Germany proposes a way to deal with
the inter-specific hybrids derived from plums and apricots in the standard.
(e) Cherries
(f) Peaches and Nectarines
(g) Truffles
The recommendations under (e), (f) and (g) are in
trial period until 2006. Discussions on these texts will only held if
requested.
5. Proposals
for new UNECE Standards
Draft UNECE Standard for Ceps
TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2005/14
(Finland)
The Specialized Section will be informed on progress
made in the working group (Finland, France, Slovakia, Bulgaria).
6. Amendments to the general texts
(a) Control certificate/ UNeDocs
[TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2005/15]
At the last session of the Working Party a working
group was formed to align the present UNECE control certificate with the UN
layout key (defining format and semantics) in line with the UNTDED (United
Nations Trade Element Directories). The working group (Chairman, Secretariat,
UN/CEFACT) will report on their work.
(b) Point of application/Standard layout
TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2005/16 (Germany)
At the last session of the Working Party t he delegation of Germany offered to
prepare a proposal based on the European Community regulations for a new
wording in the standard layout to acknowledge the fact that UNECE Standards are
applied in all stages of marketing.
(c) Experiences with the
template for requesting inclusion of apple varieties TRADE//WP.7/GE.1/2004/25/Add.9
At the last session an updated version of the template
was created (See TRADE//WP.7/GE.1/2004/25/Add.9). Delegations are invited to
report on any experiences with the template and to decide if templates for
other products should be created.
(d) Terms
of reference
The working group will report on progress made on the work on new terms
of reference/ Geneva protocol.
7. Use of codes marks in UNECE Standards -
possibility for internationally harmonized marks
At a previous session it was mentioned that the use of
code marks increases and that there should be some harmonization in the codes
used, for example that each code could start with the relevant ISO country
code. At the last session it was decided that delegations should discuss this
issue with trade and prepare a proposal for the next session.
8. WHO strategy on diet, physical activity and health
The secretariat will report on the implementation
status of the strategy and the cooperation with WHO on the creation of promotional
material (posters, postcards).
9. List of authorities for exchange of
information on non-conformity cases
At the last session it was decided that the UNECE
secretariat should check with the OECD if a link to their list could be
established on the website and if the list could be further extended with
contacts from countries that are not members of the OECD Scheme.
10.Application of UNECE Standards
TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2005/17
The delegation of Germany has reviewed the list of
acceptances and made a proposal for its revision to make it better readable.
Delegations are invited to check the proposals and the list carefully so that a
decision on the format can be taken at the session. The secretariat will also
distribute the list to countries not usually participating to get their
opinion.
11.Workshops, seminars, training courses and other activities concerning
capacity building for the application of quality standards
The Specialized Section will be informed about
different capacity building activities planned for or held in 2005.
12. Other business
Any other business can be discussed under this item.
13. Future work and meetings
(a) Date
and place of the next session
The Specialized Section will be informed about the
provisional dates for the next session.
(b) Future
work
Delegations are invited to make proposals for future
work under this agenda item.
(c) Preparation
of the next session of the Working Party
Any information to be transmitted to the next session
of the Working Party should be mentioned under this agenda item.
14. Election of officers
According
to the Commission's Rules of Procedure and established practice, the Meeting is
expected to elect a Chair and a vice-chair. At the last session the Specialized
Section elected Mr. D. Holliday (United
Kingdom) as Chair and Ms. U. Bickelmann (Germany) as its Vice-Chair.
15.Adoption of the report
The Specialized Section will adopt the report of its
fifty-first session on the basis of a draft prepared by the secretariat.
NOTE BY THE
SECRETARIAT:
Contributions should be sent to the secretariat either
on diskette by mail to :
Food Standards
Officer
UNECE Trade Development and Timber Division
Palais des Nations, Office 432
1211 Geneva 10
Tel: (41) 22 917 2450 Fax: (41) 22 917 0629
or by e-mail to: [email protected]
Meeting documentation will be available on our
homepage:
http://www.unece.org/trade/agr/welcome.htm
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