ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE

 

COMMITTEE FOR TRADE, INDUSTRY AND

ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT

 

Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards

(Fifty-ninth session, 4 to 6 November 2003, Geneva)

 

 

 

PROVISIONAL AGENDA FOR THE FIFTY-NINTH SESSION

 

to be held in the Palais des Nations, Geneva,

commencing at 10:00 hrs Tuesday, 4 November 2003*

 

Note by the secretariat: Document numbers in square brackets refer to documents expected but not received by the time of the preparation of the agenda. They might be available late or at the meeting as room documents. As soon as they are received they will also be available on the home page of the agricultural standards unit.

 

*The informal Working Groups on the Working Procedures and Internationally Harmonized Produce Coding have the possibility to meeting on Monday 3 November 2003.The secretariat will send out further information closer to the meeting.

 

 

1

Adoption of the agenda

TRADE/WP.7/2003/1

English French Russian

2

Matters of interest arising since the last session

 

 

(a)

UNECE

-���������� Committee for Trade, Industry and ����������� Enterprise Development

-���������� Working Party on Technical ����������� Harmonization and Standardization ����������� Policy

-���������� Working Party on Transport of ����������� Perishable Foodstuffs

TRADE/WP.7/2003/2

English French Russian

�����������

(b)

 

Other organizations:

-���������� Codex Alimentarius Commission and ����������� Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits ����������� and Vegetables

-���������� European Union

-���������� ISO/TC34/SC14

-���������� OECD Scheme for the Application of -���������� International Standards for Fruitand ����������� Vegetables

-���������� World Trade Organization

-���������� World Health Organization

-���������� International Trade Centre (ITC)

 

3

Specialized Section on Standardization of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2003/26

English French Russian

 

(a)

Texts recommended for adoption as revised or new UNECE standards:

 

Apples

 

Artichokes, Onions, Peaches and Nectarines, Pears

 

Courgettes

Kiwifruit

Avocados

Citrus Fruit

Table Grapes

Pineapples

 

 

 

TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2003/26/Add.1

 

TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2003/26/Add.3

 

 

TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2003/26/Add.4

TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2003/26/Add.5

TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2003/26/Add.6

TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2003/26/Add.8

TRADE/WP.7/2002/9/Add.9

TRADE/WP.7/2002/9/Add.12

 

(b)

Texts recommended for adoption as UNECE recommendations:

 

Apples (two-year trial)

Citrus Fruit (one-year trial)

Plums (extension of trial period for one year)

 

 

 

 

TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2003/26/Add.1

TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2003/26/Add.8

TRADE/WP.7/2002/9/Add.8

 

 

(c)

Proposal to create new UNECE Standards for Truffles and Ceps.

TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2003/26, paras. 113 to 125

 

(d)

Revision to the standard layout

TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2003/26/Add.3

4

Specialized Section on Standardization of Dry and Dried Produce (Fruit)

TRADE/WP.7/GE.2/2003/15

 

(a)

Texts recommended for adoption as revised UNECE standards:

 

Almond Kernels

Prunes

 

 

 

 

TRADE/WP.7/GE.2/2003/15/Add.1

TRADE/WP.7/GE.2/2003/15/Add.6

 

(b)

Texts recommended for adoption as UNECE recommendations (one-year trial period):

 

Inshell Almonds

Pistachio Kernels and Peeled Pistachio Kernels

Inshell Pistachio Nuts

 

 

 

 

 

TRADE/WP.7/GE.2/2003/15/Add.3

 

TRADE/WP.7/GE.2/2003/15/Add.4

TRADE/WP.7/GE.2/2003/15/Add.5

 

(c)

Proposal to create new UNECE Standards for

 

Dried Peaches, Inshell Peanuts and Peanut Kernels, Inshell Pecans and Pecan Kernels (United States), Inshell Macademia Nuts and Macademia Kernels, Blanched Almonds, Dried Tomatoes (United States, Spain), ����������� Dried Peppers � with the possibility to include annexes on dried pepper powder

 

To review UNECE Standard for Dates

 

 

 

(d)

Revision of the standard layout text (recommended for adoption)

 

Annex I: Determination of the moisture content for dried fruit

 

Annex III: Terms recommended and definition of defects

 

 

 

TRADE/WP.7/GE.2/2003/15/Add.7

 

 

TRADE/WP.7/GE.2/2003/15/Add.8

 

(e)

Information concerning the joint publication of the colour chart for walnut kernels by OECD and UNECE

 

5

Specialized Section on Standardization of Early and Ware Potatoes

TRADE/WP.7/GE.5/2003/6

 

(a)

Request to delete the UNECE General Conditions for the Sale of Potatoes from the publication list.

 

 

(b)

Possible future organization of the work

TRADE/WP.7/GE.5/2003/6, paras. 32 to 35

TRADE/WP.7/GE.6/2003/10, para. 94 and

TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2003/26, paras. 158 to 161

 

see also annotations

 

6

Specialized Section on Standardization of Seed Potatoes

TRADE/WP.7/GE.6/2003/10

 

(a)

Text recommended for adoption as revised UNECE Standard

TRADE/WP.7/2003/3

English French Russian

TRADE/WP.7/2003/3/Add.1

English French Russian

 

(b)

Information on meetings of the extended bureau:

 

Como (Italy) 8-10 July 2003

Edinburgh (United Kingdom) 7 to 10 October 2003

 

 

7

Specialized Section on Standardization of Meat

TRADE/WP.7/GE.11/2003/12

 

(a)

UNECE Standard for Chicken (gallus domesticus) Carcases and Parts

TRADE/WP.7/GE.11/2003/12/Add.1

 

(b)

Meeting of rapporteurs on Chicken Meat (Moscow, 15 to 17 September 2003)

 

 

(c)

Seminar on implementation of the beef standard (Moscow, 18 to 19 September 2003)

 

 

(d)

Meeting of rapporteurs on Pork (St. Petersburg, 22 to 24 September)

 

8

Working group on internationally Harmonized Produce Coding

TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2003/26/Add.9

9

Publications

 

 

(a)

Compendium of Standards

 

 

(b)

UNECE Standards for Meat

 

 

(c)

Promotional booklet on the work and achievements of the Working Party

 

10

General questions concerning the work of WP.7 and its Specialized Sections

 

 

(a)

Revision of the procedure to develop a UNECE Standard (Spec Sec decide when to review or do new texts)

see annotations

 

(b)

Proposed revisions to the standard layout for fresh fruit and vegetables and dry and dried fruit

TRADE/WP.7/2003/4

English French Russian

 

(c)

Status and possible revision of the Geneva Protocol

TRADE/WP.7/2001/6

TRADE/WP.7/2001/9, paras. 75 to 81

 

(d)

Assessment of the implementation of UNECE Standards

see annotations

 

(e)

General Conditions for sale for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables and Dry and Dried Fruit

see annotations

 

(f)

General Conditions for Marking and Labelling

see annotations


 

11

Workshops/Forum

 

 

(a)

BSEC/FAO meeting, Istanbul, 29 June to 2 July

 

 

(b)

UNECE/EAN International regional meeting on Trade Facilitation and the new security environment, Istanbul, 2 to 3 July

 

 

(b)

Workshop on Agribusiness Enterprise development (Israel, 9-16 September 2003)

 

 

(c)

Other meetings planned by the secretariat

 

 

(d)

Preparation of the forum: Trade and Enterprise in a Wider Europe, May 2004

 

12

Other business

 

13

Programme of work

TRADE/WP.7/2003/5

English French Russian

 

(a)

Calendar of meetings

 

 

(b)

Future work

 

14

Election of officers

 

15

Adoption of the report

 

 

PROPOSED TIME TABLE

 

4

November

10.00 � 13.00

Items 1 � 4

 

 

15.00 � 18.00

Items 4 � 9

5

November

10.00 � 13.00

Items 10 � 14

6

November

10.00 - 13.00

Item 15

 

ANNOTATIONS

 

 

ITEM 1 Adoption of the agenda

 

According to the Commission's Rules of Procedure, the first item on the provisional agenda shall be the adoption of the agenda.

 

ITEM 2 Matters of interest arising since the last session

 

Other organizations as well as groups within UNECE have been invited to provide any information that could be of interest to the Working Party. Representatives of these groups/ organizations have been invited to present the information.

 

Document TRADE/WP.7/2003/2 contains the discussion on the work of the Working Party that was held at the 7th session of the Committee for Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development.

 

ITEM 3 Specialized Section on Standardization of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

 

The Working Party will be informed on the outcome of the forty-ninth session of the Specialized Section and will be invited to take decisions on the standards, recommendation, new work and the change proposed to the standard layout as indicated in the table above.

 

ITEM 4 Specialized Section on Standardization of Dry and Dried Produce (Fruit)

 

The Working Party will be informed on the outcome of the fiftieth session of the Specialized Section and will be invited to take decisions on standards, recommendations and new work as well as the annexes to the standard layout as indicated in the table above.

 

The Working Party will be informed about progress made on the development of the Color Chart for Walnut Kernels.

 

ITEM 5 Specialized Section on Standardization of Early and Ware Potatoes

 

(a)������� Request to delete the UNECE General Conditions for the Sale of Potatoes from the publication list.

 

 

The specialized Section decided to propose to the Working Party to abolish the UNECE General Conditions of Sale for Potatoes as these are no longer relevant.

 

(b)������� Possible future organization of the work

 

At the Specialized Section a discussion was held on rationalizing the organization of the standardization work for early and ware potatoes by joining the work of the group to either the group on Fresh Fruit and Vegetables or the one on Seed Potatoes because the present participation and number of proposals did not justify keeping a separate regular meeting. This was agreed in principle but at the time of the meeting there was no consensus on which group should be joined.(see TRADE/WP.7/GE.5/2003/6, paras. 32 to 35).

 


In their sessions the Specialized Sections on Standardization of Seed Potatoes and Fresh Fruit and Vegetables recommended that discussions on Early and Ware Potatoes should be held in the Specialized Section on Standardization of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables (see TRADE/WP.7/GE.6/2003/10, para. 94 andTRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2003/26, paras. 158 to 161). Because of this clear opinion no further consultation as foreseen in TRADE/WP.7/GE.5/2003/6, para. 35) was held.

 

To follow this recommendation the Working Party should in the programme of work adjourn the regular meetings of the Specialized Section on Standardization of Early and Ware Potatoes sine die and give responsibility on this work to the Specialized Section on Standardization of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables.

 

ITEM 6 Specialized Section on Standardization of Seed Potatoes

 

The Working Party will be informed on the outcome of the thirty-second session of the Specialized Section.

 

The Specialized Section recommends the adoption of the text contained in TRADE/WP.7/2003/3 and TRADE/WP.7/2003/3/Add.1 as revised UNECE Standard for Seed Potatoes.

 

The Working Party will be informed about the outcome of the meetings of the extended bureau held in 2003 as indicated in the table.

 

ITEM 7 Specialized Section on Standardization of Meat

 

The Working Party will be informed on the outcome of the twelfth session of the Specialized Section.

 

(a)������� New UNECE Standard for Chicken Carcases and Parts

 

In accordance with the outcome of the meeting of rapporteurs on chicken meat held in Moscow (15 to 17 September) the Specialized Section might adopting the text contained in document TRADE/WP.7/GE.11/2003/12/Add.1 and Add.2 as a new UNECE Standard for Chicken Carcases and Parts together with the relevant Parts descriptions (not reproduced for this meeting).

 

(b)������� Meeting of rapporteurs

 

The Working Party will be informed on the different meetings that took place in Russia.

 

ITEM 8 Working group on Internationally Harmonized Produce Coding

 

The Working Party will be informed on the progress of the working group on internationally harmonized produce coding.

 

ITEM 9 Publications�����

 

(a)������� Compendium of standards

 

The Specialized Sections on Standardization of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables and Dry and Dried Fruit stated that it was not necessary to publish a consolidated compendium of standards on paper and stated that they were content with the present practice of publication on the Internet.

 


(b)������� UNECE Standards for Meat

 

The secretariat will inform the Working Party on the status of the publication of the updated standard for beef (bovine) carcases and cuts and the new standard for sheep (Ovine) carcases and cuts.

 

(c)������� Promotional booklet on the work and achievements of the Working Party

 

The secretariat will inform the Working Party on the status of this publication.

 

ITEM 10���������� General questions concerning the work of WP.7 and its Specialized Sections���

 

(a)������� Revision of the procedure to develop a UNECE Standard

 

The Specialized Section on standardization of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables asks the Working Party if the Procedure to develop and update UNECE Standards could be simplified by

 

(i)�������� giving the authority to change entries in lists of varieties of standards to the specialized section.

(ii)������� giving the authority to begin work on a draft standard (new or revised) to the specialized section.

 

The Specialized Section on Standardization of Dry and Dried Produce supports the request under (ii).

 

(b)������� Proposed revisions to the standard layout for fresh fruit and vegetables and dry and dried fruit

 

Document TRADE/WP.7/2003/4 contains proposals for amending the standard layout for fresh fruit and vegetables and dry and dried fruit.

 

(c)������� Status and possible revision of the Geneva Protocol

Background:����� TRADE/WP.7/2001/6

����������������������� TRADE/WP.7/2001/9, paras. 75 to 81

 

The Working Group on Working Procedures will report on its discussions on updating the framework in which the Working Party and its Specialized Sections operate and the status of the revision of the working procedures.

 

(d)������� Assessment of the implementation of UNECE Standards

 

At present the following conventions are used to assess the status of implementation of UNECE Standards (see also http://www.unece.org/trade/agr/info/accept.htm

 

(a)

UNECE Standard accepted and applied

*

UNECE Standard accepted, similar EU Standard applied

(a)NP 

UNECE Standard accepted, though no production of this produce


 

(a)IP

UNECE Standard in preparation to be applied

(a)NS  

UNECE Standard accepted, similar National Standard in use

[pnt]   

Product not traded

[sip]   

Standard in preparation

[ns]    

National standard in use

The secretariat invites the Working Party to discuss if any additional information should be assessed and if the present format of presentation is adequate.

 

(e)������� General Conditions for sale for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables and Dry and Dried Fruit���

(f)������� General Conditions for Marking and Labelling

 

The secretariat would like to assess if these publications are still relevant or could be deleted from the publications list.

 

ITEM 11���������� Workshops/Forum

 

The Working Party will be informed on the meetings on capacity building held in Turkey and Israel and the meetings intended for next year.

 

The Working Party will also be informed about a planned forum on Trade and Enterprise in a Wider Europe in May 2004 in Geneva and will be invited to contribute to the preparation of this event.

 

ITEM 12���������� Other business

 

Any other topic can be discussed under this agenda item.

 

ITEM 13���������� Programme of work����

 

(a)������� Calendar of meetings��

 

The calendar of sessions of the Specialized Sections and the Working Party will be presented for the consideration of the Working Party.

 

(b)������� Future work

 

Delegations are invited to propose on areas of future work of interest to their countries.

 


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 two vice-chairs. The Working Party elected at its fifty-eighth session the following bureau:

 

Chair:����������� Mr. D.L. Priester (United States of America)

Vice-Chair:��� Ms. O. Vorovenci (Romania)

Vice-Chair:��� Ms. V. Baricicova (Slovakia)

 

ITEM 15���������� Adoption of the report

 

The Working Party will adopt the report of its fifty-ninth 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 Division

Palais des Nations

Office 432

1211 Geneva 10

Tel:(41) 22 917 2450���� Fax:(41) 22 917 0041

or by e-mail to:

[email protected]

 

Meeting documentation will be available on our homepage:

 

http://www.unece.org/trade/agr/welcome.htm