Congressional and Public Affairs
(202) 720-9113
Bridgette Keefe

WASHINGTON, December 29, 2004 - The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, today announced a public meeting to provide information and receive comments on agenda items to be discussed at the 33rd Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labeling (CCFL) in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, May 9-13, 2005.

The public meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 19, 2005, from 1-4 p.m., in Room 1A-003 of the Harvey W. Wiley Federal Building, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, Md. Among the agenda items to be discussed are: Proposed Draft Guidelines for the Labeling of Foods Obtained Through Certain Techniques of Genetic Modification/Genetic Engineering; Country of Origin Labeling; Discussion Paper on Advertising and a Proposed Draft Amendment to the General Standard for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods. A complete agenda for the meeting can be found at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.

Codex was created in 1962 by two United Nations organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization. Codex develops food standards, guidelines and codes of practice in order to protect the health of consumers, ensure fair practices in the food trade and promote coordination of food standards undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organizations.

At the January 19, 2005, public meeting, attendees will have the opportunity to pose questions and offer comments on the above agenda items.

For information concerning public meeting or for a sign language interpreter contact Ellen Matten, International Issues Analyst, U.S. Codex Office, FSIS, at (202) 205-7760.