US embassy cable - 05WELLINGTON489

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 WELLINGTON 000489 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/ANP/RAMSEY AND EB/BOBO 
USDA FOR FAS/ITP/TALLEY, BREHM, MEYER AND CLAUS, 
FAS/FAA/CONLON, AMS/SPOMER AND SAUSVILLE, 
FAS/ICD/WITHERS, AND FSIS/CODEX/SCARBROUGH 
COMMERCE FOR ITA/HILL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, TBIO, EAGR, ECON, NZ 
SUBJECT: NEW ZEALAND POSITION AT CODEX COMMISSION MEETING 
JULY 4-9 IN ROME, ITALY 
 
REF:  SECSTATE 113408 AND SECSTATE 113635 
 
SUMMARY 
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1. New Zealand will participate in the 28TH session of 
the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) in Rome, July 4- 
9.  The New Zealand delegation will be headed by Andrew 
Mckenzie,Executive Director of the New Zealand Food 
Safety Authority(NZFSA).  The delegation will also 
include Steve Hathaway, Director of Program Development, 
NZFSA; Raj Rajasekar, Codex Program Manager, NZFSA; and 
Melissa Quarrie, Policy Analyst, Codex, NZFSA.  Talking 
points provided reftel and detailed briefing papers 
regarding key issues of importance to the United States 
were shared with NZFSA.  Our discussions with NZFSA's 
Codex Program Manager lead us to believe that New Zealand 
will be generally supportive of U.S. positions taken on 
key issues at the meeting.  New Zealand officials will 
participate in a telephone conference call with U.S. 
officials on Thursday June 23 (Wellington time) to 
discuss New Zealand views/positions related to Codex 
agenda issues.  New Zealand looks forward to obtaining 
additional details regarding a possible U.S. candidate 
for Vice Chair of Codex.  New Zealand delegation members 
will participate in the Codex workshop offered by the 
U.S. on Saturday, July 2, and the reception hosted by the 
Agricultural Affairs Office of the U.S. Mission to FAO. 
End Summary. 
 
2. New Zealand agrees with and will support the U.S. in 
requesting the CAC to approve new work to elaborate a 
Codex Standard for parmesan cheese and to direct the 
Codex Committee on Milk and Milk Products (CCMMP) to 
develop the standard.  New Zealand agrees that the 
international trade in parmesan cheese exceeds all of the 
criteria agreed upon by the CCMMP for the elaboration of 
individual cheese standards.  New Zealand also supports 
the position that the issue of GI protection or Protected 
Designation of Origin (PDO) with respect to a standard 
for parmesan cheese should not be addressed in Codex. 
New Zealand considers that the PDO issue is more 
appropriate for the World Intellectual Property 
Organization and the WTO agreement on Trade-Related 
Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS). 
 
3. New Zealand has not opposed advancement to Step 5 of 
the Proposed Draft Amendment to the General Standard for 
the Labeling of Prepackaged Food:  Quantitative 
ingredient Declaration.  That said, it is generally not 
supportive of extensive QUID labeling.  New Zealand 
recognizes the validity of the procedural issues raised 
by the United States, i.e. four significant provisions 
remain in square brackets and are unresolved.  This 
raises the question for New Zealand as to whether it is 
appropriate to advance on this issue at this time.  New 
Zealand officials are expected to consult further before 
deciding the level of support to offer the United States 
on this issue at the Rome Codex Commission meeting. 
 
4. New Zealand will join the United States in opposing 
new work being undertaken on animal feeding at this time. 
New Zealand fully agrees that countries are still 
assessing their present systems and responses to the 
recently adopted Codex Code of Practice on Good Animal 
Feeding.  New Zealand also agrees with the U.S. position 
that it would not be time or money well spent to use a 
Task Force to develop a HACCP-related document for use in 
the processing of food and feed ingredients.  New Zealand 
will also support the U.S. view that the revision to the 
Codex Principles and Guidelines for the exchange of 
information in Food Safety Emergency Situations extends 
the scope of the document to cover feeding stuffs for 
food producing animals and that this revision adequately 
addresses concerns relating to a rapid alert system for 
feed. 
 
5. New Zealand agrees with and will support views 
expressed reftel regarding the review and its findings 
regarding committee structures and mandates.  New Zealand 
does not support the consultants' recommendation that a 
Commodity Standards Management Committee should be 
created.  New Zealand shares the U.S. concern that that 
it would represent another layer of bureaucracy demanding 
additional resource requirements and may not improve 
Codex efficiency.  New Zealand does not have a well- 
defined viewpoint regarding recommendation No. 20 but 
appreciates points raised by the United States. 
 
6. New Zealand is fully supportive of position that Codex 
has a mandate to address antimicrobial resistance and 
supports further work on this subject by existing Codex 
committee structure.  New Zealand does not believe that a 
justification exists and, therefore, will not support the 
formation of a Codex/OIE ad-hoc task force at this time 
to accomplish work on antimicrobial resistance. 
 
7. New Zealand supports the work being carried out by the 
Trust Fund for enhanced participation in Codex.  It also 
shares all of the concerns detailed in reftel. 
 
8. New Zealand will support the United States is seeking 
adoption of cadmium in wheat grain, potato, stem and root 
vegetables and other vegetables at step 8.  It will also 
support the U.S. in seeking adoption of the draft maximum 
levels for cadmium of 0.4 mg/kg in polished rice and 
marine bivalve mollusks and in cephalopods (without 
viscera) at step 5, provided that oysters and scallops 
are excluded. 
 
9. New Zealand looks forward to obtaining additional 
information regarding a potential U.S. candidate for Vice 
Chair of Codex and participating in the U.S. organized 
workshop and reception on July 2. 
HADDA