FSIS Reports on U.S. Responses to Codex on Processed Cheese, Mollusks

The Food Safety and Information Service reports that the United States has responded to two Codex requests for information and comments regarding standards for processed cheese and marine biotoxins in mollusks.

Summaries of these comments are as follows:

Codex Committee on Milk and Milk Products (CCMMP): The United States has responded to a request for information related to a Codex standard for processed cheese. The Codex Commission considered a proposal in 2010 to discontinue work on the standard and to revoke the existing standards. A number of countries opposed the move in both 2010 and 2011, so the Commission requested information on trade problems associated with the lack of a standard. In its comments, the United States responded that it was not aware of any trade impact caused by the lack of a standard, and reiterated its previous opposition to continuing work on the standard, noting that the issue was deliberated for over 10 years with no agreement on an international standard.

Codex Committee on Fish and Fishery Products (CCFFP): The United States has responded to a request for comments in Circular Letter (CL) 2011-10 FFP on standards at step 3 with comments on the Proposed Draft Performance Criteria for Reference and Confirmatory Methods for Marine Biotoxins in the Standard for Live and Raw Bivalve Molluscs. In its comments, the United States was in general agreement with the inclusion in the Standard of reference method criteria in lieu of specific reference methods. However, the United States expressed concern that the proposed criteria appear to exclude functionally based methods, including the globally recognized official reference method for saxitoxin (viz.: the mouse bioassay).