[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 18, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2842-2843]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-935]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. 04-051N]
Codex Alimentarius Commission: Thirty-Seventh Session of the
Codex Committee on Food Hygiene
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Office of the Acting Under Secretary for Food Safety,
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), United States Department of Health and Human
Services, are sponsoring a public meeting on February 2, 2005, to
provide information and receive public comments on agenda items that
will be discussed at the Thirty-seventh Session of the Codex Committee
on Food Hygiene (CCFH) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex).
The 37th Session of the CCFH will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina,
14-19 March, 2005. The Acting Under Secretary and FDA recognize the
importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain
background information on the agenda items that will be discussed at
this forthcoming session of the CCFH.
DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 2, 2005
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in the Conference Room
1A001, Harvey W. Wiley Federal Building, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway,
College Park, MD. Documents related to the 37th Session of CCFH will be
accessible via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.
FSIS invites interested persons to submit comments on this notice.
Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
Mail, including floppy disks or CD-ROMs, and hand- or
courier-delivered items: Send to the FSIS Docket Clerk, U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, 300 12th Street,
SW., Room 102, Cotton Annex, Washington, DC 20730. All comments
received must include the Agency name and docket number 04-051N.
All comments submitted in response to this notice will be available
for public inspection in the FSIS Docket Room at the address listed
above between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through
[[Page 2843]]
Friday. The comments also will be posted on the Agency's Web site at
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/2005_Notices_Index/.
For Further Information About the 37th Session of the CCFH Contact:
U.S. Delegate, Dr. Robert Buchanan, CFSAN Senior Science Advisor and
Director of the CFSAN Office of Science, DHHS, FDA, CFSAN, 5100 Paint
Branch Parkway, College Park, Maryland 20740. Phone (301) 436-2396; Fax
(301) 436-2642, Email: [email protected].
For Further Information About the Public Meeting Contact: Syed Amjad
Ali, International Issues Analyst, U.S. Codex Office, FSIS, Room 4861,
South Agriculture Building, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington,
DC 20250-3700. Phone (202) 205-7760; Fax (202) 720-3157. Persons
requiring a sign language interpreter or other special accommodations
should notify Dr. Rebecca Buchner, FDA at telephone (301) 436-1486, Fax
(301) 436-2632.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) was established in 1962
by two United Nations organizations, the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Codex is
the major international standard-setting organization for protecting
the health and economic interests of consumers and encouraging fair
international trade in food. Through adoption of food standards, codes
of practice, and other guidelines developed by its committees, and by
promoting their adoption and implementation by governments, Codex seeks
to ensure that the world's food supply is sound, wholesome, free from
adulteration, and correctly labeled. In the United States, USDA, FDA,
and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) manage and carry out U.S.
Codex activities.
The Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH) was established to draft
basic provisions on food hygiene for all foods. The Committee is
chaired by the United States of America.
Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting
The following items on the agenda for the 37th Session of CCFH will
be discussed during the public meeting:
1. Matters referred by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and other
Codex Committees.
2. Discussion paper on the management of the work of the Committee.
3. Proposed draft guidelines on the application of general
principles of food hygiene to the [management] of Listeria
monocytogenes in foods.
4. Proposed draft principles and guidelines for the conduct of
microbiological risk management results.
5. Proposed draft guidelines for the validation of food hygiene
control measures.
6. Proposed draft revision of the code of hygienic practice for egg
products.
7. Discussion paper on guidelines for the application of the
general principles of food hygiene to the risk based control of
Salmonella spp. in poultry.
8. Discussion paper on guidelines for risk management options for
Campylobacter in broiler chickens.
9. Discussion paper on guidelines for the application of the
general principles of food hygiene to the risk based control of
Enterohemorragic E. coli in ground beef and fermented sausages.
10. Risk profile of Vibrio spp in seafood.
11. Reports of the ad hoc FAO/WHO expert consultations on risk
assessment of microbiological hazards in food and related matters.
Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed,
or to be distributed, by the United States Secretariat to the Meeting.
Members of the public may access copies of these documents (see
ADDRESSES).
Public Meeting
At the February 2, 2005 public meeting, these agenda items will be
described, discussed, and attendees will have the opportunity to pose
questions and offer comments. Written comments may be offered at the
meeting or sent to the U.S. Delegate, for the 37th Session of the CCFH,
Dr. Robert Buchanan (See ADDRESSES). Written comments should state that
they relate to activities of the 37th Session of the CCFH.
Additional Public Notification
Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy
development is important. Consequently, in an effort to ensure that the
public and in particular minorities, women, and persons with
disabilities are aware of this notice, FSIS will announce it on-line
through the FSIS Web page located at http://www.fsis.usda.gov.
FSIS also will make copies of this Federal Register publication
available through the FSIS Constituent Update, which is used to provide
information regarding FSIS policies, procedures, regulations, Federal
Register notices, FSIS public meeting, recalls, and other types of
information that could affect or would be of interest to our
constituents and stakeholders. The update is communicated via Listserv,
a free e-mail subscription service consisting of industry, trade, and
farm groups, consumer interest groups, allied health professionals,
scientific professionals, and other individuals who have requested to
be included. The update is available on the FSIS Web page. Through
Listserv and the Web page, FSIS is able to provide information to a
much broader, more diverse audience.
Done in Washington, DC, on: January 12, 2005.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 05-935 Filed 1-14-05; 8:45 am]
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