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CCCPL11 / Cereals committee reactivated to discuss group standard for whole millet grains
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Saturday, 19 April, 2025, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Washington DC, USA
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The 11th session of the newly re-activated Codex Committee on Cereals, Pulses and Legumes has got underway by correspondence in order to start work on a group standard for whole millet grains.
The new work was agreed in November 2024, at the 47th session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC47), following a proposal from India. CAC47 agreed that millets are an essential source of nutrition, are widely traded and consumed in some regions, and are an important food for infants and young children.
The proposal before CCCPL, which is hosted by United States of America, is to integrate existing Codex standards relevant to whole millet grains into a single group standard to enhance the quality and safety of all millets in global trade. The committee will consider factors such as contaminants, hygiene, labelling, packaging, and others.
Given the limited agenda to be addressed, it was agreed that CCCPL will proceed by correspondence. This involves online participation via the Codex e-forum. Discussions will take place April 7 to 25, 2025, and the report adoption will take place April 28 to 30, 2025.
Kenneth Lowery, committee chairperson, said, "At this session we will focus on drafting the Terms of Reference (ToR) for an electronic working group (EWG) that will be formed to do the initial text of the group standard for whole millet grains, and which will report back to the next session of this Committee, CCCPL12. We will also select the Chair and, if applicable, co-chairs of the EWG, who will lead this work."
In his opening remarks, the CAC chairperson, Allan Azegele, thanked the United States of America for hosting this Committee. He said, "This meeting provides us with the opportunity to advance the development of the first group commodity standard to be developed by CCCPL. This will require the Committee to consider an appropriate approach that takes into consideration the unique specificities of a group standard for millets. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you for your dedication to this important cause. The work of this Committee is fundamental to ensuring that the global food supply chain remains safe, fair, and resilient. Your expertise, collaboration, and commitment are what make the Codex committees a beacon of excellence in food standards setting."
Codex secretary, Sarah Cahill also thanked United States of America, "for their unwavering support to CCCPL in hosting and chairing as well as ensuring its timely reactivation to ensure that the CAC is addressing the standard setting needs of all Codex members. Without such support Codex simply cannot do the work needed to fulfil its statutory mandate." She also highlighted the benefits of working by correspondence, she said, "Working in this manner provides a resource-efficient way get new work such as that on millets underway in a timely manner, while still providing the opportunity to reflect on whether the Committee may need to work on other areas. As the work is progressed, it can be determined if additional tools or modalities might be needed to complete the work."
Lingping Zhang, Food Standards Officer, said, “I'm excited to support CCCPL, a Codex committee working by correspondence. While I've previously worked with committees like CCPFV and CCCPL, which also operated by correspondence, this time we're focused on reviewing the processes to make correspondence-based committees more formal, efficient, and effective. For CCCPL11, we will establish a working group to develop a group millets standard. My colleague, Riri, in consultation with the Chairperson and the host secretariat, has drafted a detailed timeline. We’ll test this plan, identify areas for improvement, and use those insights to streamline the future CCCPL sessions."
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