CCRVDF26 / A very productive and successful meeting

Feb 21, 2023, 19:10 PM by System

The Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) took place in Portland, Oregon, United States of America from 13 to 17 February 2023. Making her debut as Chairperson, Brandi Robinson, from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, congratulated delegates at the end of the meeting on “an impressive amount of work in just three days of plenary”.

The Committee advanced maximum residue limits (MRLs) for ivermectin in sheep, pigs, and goats and MRLs for nicarbazin in chicken to Step 5/8 in the Codex standard development process for final adoption by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The Committee also advanced MRLs which were developed through the extrapolation procedure for 11 compounds to Step 5/8. “This means we will have an impressive number of new standards once adopted,” said Robinson.

The Committee will also continue to discuss an approach that could be used for establishing tolerance levels, or what are currently being referred to as “action levels”, due to unintended and unavoidable carryover of veterinary drug residues from feed to food of animal origin.

Robinson said she was encouraged by the commitment of delegates to provide data on new veterinary drugs that can then be evaluated by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) in order for the Committee to establish MRLs. However, the current priority list at CCRVDF is fairly short and, to ensure a full agenda,  Robinson called on Members to consider nominations of veterinary drugs which have data for evaluation. This alongside the innovative process already adopted by the Committee to explore ways to enhance the extrapolation procedure to cover species and tissues which are unlikely to have robust data available.

 

Learn more

Read the full draft report on the CCRVDF26 meeting page

Photo credit ©FAO/Giuseppe Di Chiera

Brandi Robinson (centre) congratulated by Verna Carolissen (left) and Gracia Brisco of the Codex Secretariat on the conclusion of CCRVDF26, 17 February 2023

 

At the heart of the Codex mandate are the core values of collaboration, inclusiveness, consensus building and transparency. Governmental and non-governmental, public and private organizations alike play a vital role in ensuring Codex texts are of the highest quality and based on sound science.

Codex would have little authority in the field of international standard setting if it did not welcome and acknowledge the valuable contributions made by observers. Expert technical bodies, industry and consumer associations contribute to the standard-setting process in a spirit of openness, collaboration and transparency.

Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can apply for observer status in Codex in order to attend and put forward their views at every stage of the standard-setting process.

Current Codex Alimentarius Commission

240
Codex Observers
60
IGOs
164
NGOs
16
UN

CCRVDF26 / A very productive and successful meeting

Feb 21, 2023, 19:10 PM by System

The Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) took place in Portland, Oregon, United States of America from 13 to 17 February 2023. Making her debut as Chairperson, Brandi Robinson, from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, congratulated delegates at the end of the meeting on “an impressive amount of work in just three days of plenary”.

The Committee advanced maximum residue limits (MRLs) for ivermectin in sheep, pigs, and goats and MRLs for nicarbazin in chicken to Step 5/8 in the Codex standard development process for final adoption by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The Committee also advanced MRLs which were developed through the extrapolation procedure for 11 compounds to Step 5/8. “This means we will have an impressive number of new standards once adopted,” said Robinson.

The Committee will also continue to discuss an approach that could be used for establishing tolerance levels, or what are currently being referred to as “action levels”, due to unintended and unavoidable carryover of veterinary drug residues from feed to food of animal origin.

Robinson said she was encouraged by the commitment of delegates to provide data on new veterinary drugs that can then be evaluated by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) in order for the Committee to establish MRLs. However, the current priority list at CCRVDF is fairly short and, to ensure a full agenda,  Robinson called on Members to consider nominations of veterinary drugs which have data for evaluation. This alongside the innovative process already adopted by the Committee to explore ways to enhance the extrapolation procedure to cover species and tissues which are unlikely to have robust data available.

 

Learn more

Read the full draft report on the CCRVDF26 meeting page

Photo credit ©FAO/Giuseppe Di Chiera

Brandi Robinson (centre) congratulated by Verna Carolissen (left) and Gracia Brisco of the Codex Secretariat on the conclusion of CCRVDF26, 17 February 2023

 

Codex and Observer

Food is a sensitive commodity, which has travelled
around the world since ancient times.
We might not always know where it comes from,
but we expect it to be available, safe and of good quality.