[Federal Register: January 29, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 19)]
[Notices]
[Page 4233-4235]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29ja02-32]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. 01-047N]
Codex Alimentarius Commission: 34th Session of the Codex
Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants
AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting, request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA), are sponsoring a public meeting on February 4, 2002, to provide
information and receive public
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comments on agenda items that will be discussed at the meeting of the
Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (CCFAC), which will
be held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, on March 11-15, 2002. The Under
Secretary and FDA recognize the importance of providing interested
parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the Thirty-
fourth Session of the Additives and Contaminants Committee of the Codex
Alimentarius Commission (Codex) and to address items on the Agenda for
the 34th CCFAC.
DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Monday, February 4th, 2002,
from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in Room 1409, FOB 8, 200 C.
St. SW., Washington, DC. To receive copies of the documents referenced
in the notice contact the FSIS Docket Clerk, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Room 102, Cotton
Annex, 300 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20250-3700. The documents
will also be accessible via the World Wide Web at the following
address: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.codexalimentarius.net/ccfac34/fa02--01e.htm. If you
have comments, please send an original and two copies to the FSIS
Docket Room, Docket #01-047N. All comments submitted will be available
for public inspection in the Docket Clerk's Office between 8:30 a.m.
and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick J. Clerkin, Associate U.S.
Manager for Codex, U.S. Codex Office, FSIS Room 4861, South Building,
1400 Independence Avenue S.W., Washington, DC 20250-3700, telephone:
(202) 205-7760, Fax: (202) 720-3157. Persons requiring a sign language
interpreter or other special accommodations should notify Mr. Patrick
J. Clerkin at the above telephone number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
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 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 EPA manage and carry out U.S. Codex
activities.
The Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants establishes
or endorses maximum or guideline levels for individual food additives,
for contaminants (including environmental contaminants) and for
naturally occurring toxicants in foodstuffs and animal feeds. In
addition, the Committee prepares priority lists of food additives and
contaminants for toxicological evaluation by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert
Committee on Food Additives; recommends specifications of identity and
purity for food additives for adoption by the Commission; considers
methods of analysis and sampling for the determination of food
additives and contaminants in food; and considers and elaborates
standards or codes for related subjects such as the labelling of food
additives when sold as such, and food irradiation. The Committee is
chaired by The Netherlands.
Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting
The provisional agenda items will be discussed during the public
meeting:
1. Adoption of the Agenda (CX/FAC 02/1)
2. Matters referred by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and other
Codex Committees (CX/FAC 02/2)
3. Summary Report of the 57th Meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert
Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)
4. Action Required as a Result of Changes in ADI Status and other
Toxicological Recommendations (CX/FAC 02/3)
5. Discussion Paper on the Application of Risk Analysis Principles
for Food Additives and Contaminants (CX/FAC 02/4)
Food Additives
1. Endorsement and/or Revision of Maximum Levels for Food Additives in
Codex Standards (CX/FAC 02/5)
2. Discussion Paper on the Relationship Between Codex Commodity
Standards and the Codex General Standard for Food Additives, including
Consideration of the Food Category System (CX/FAC 02/6)
3. Consideration of the Codex General Standard for Food Additives
(GSFA) (CX/FAC 02/7 and CX/FAC 02/8)
4. Discussion Paper on the Processing Aids and Carriers (CX/FAC 02/9)
5. Discussion Paper on the Use of Active Chlorine (CX/FAC 02/10)
6. Draft Revised Codex General Standard for Irradiated Foods (CX/FAC
02/11)
7. Proposed Draft Revised Recommendation for International Code of
Practice for Radiation Processing of Food (CX/FAC 02/12)
8. Specifications for the Identity and Purity of Food Additives
Arising from the 57th JECFA Meeting (CX/FAC 02/13)
9. Proposed Amendments to the International Numbering System (CX/
FAC 02/14)
Contaminants
1. Endorsement and/or Revision of Maximum Levels for Contaminants in
Codex Standards (CX/FAC 02/15)
2. Codex General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Foods (CX/FAC
02/16)
3. Proposed Draft Principles for Exposure Assessment of Contaminants
and Toxins in Foods (CX/FAC 02/17)
4. Mycotoxins in Food and Feed
(a) Draft Maximum Levels for Ochratoxin A in Wheat, Barley and Rye
and Derived Products (CX/FAC 02/18)
(b) Draft Maximum levels for Patulin in Apple Juice and Apple Juice
Ingredients in Other Beverages (CX/FAC 02/19)
(c) Proposed Draft Code of Practice for the Prevention of Patulin
Contamination in Apple Juice and Apple Juice Ingredients in Other
Beverages (CX/FAC 02/20)
(d) Proposed Draft Code of Practice for the Prevention of Mycotoxin
Contamination in Cereals, Including Annexes on Ochratoxin A,
Zearalenone, Fumonisin and Tricothecenes (CX/FAC 02/21)
(e) Discussion Paper on Aflatoxins in Pistachios (CX/FAC 02/22)
5. Industrial and Environmental Contaminants in Foods
(a) Draft Maximum Levels for Lead in Fish, Crustaceans, and Bivalve
Molluscs (CX/FAC 01/23)
(b) Proposed Draft Maximum Levels for Cadmium (CX/FAC 01/24)
(c) Proposed Draft Maximum Levels for Tin (CX/FAC 02/25)
(d) Position Paper on Dioxins and Dioxin Like PCBs, including
Methods of Analysis (CX/FAC 02/26)
(e) Proposed Draft Code of Practice for Source Directed Measures to
Reduce Dioxin and Dioxin Like PCB Contamination of Foods (CX/FAC 02/27)
(f) Position Paper on Chloropropanols (CX/FAC 02/28)
(g) Discussion Paper on Dexoynivalenol (CX/FAC 02/29)
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General Issues
1. Proposals for Priority Evaluation of Food Additives and Contaminants
by JECFA (CX/FAC 02/30)
2. Other Business and Future Work
(a) Comments on Methods of Analysis and Sampling for the
Determination of Food Additives and Contaminants in Foods (CX/FAC 02/
31)
Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed,
or to be distributed, by The Netherlands' Secretariat to the Meeting.
Members of the public may access or request copies of these documents
(see ADDRESSES).
Public Meeting
At the February 4th public meeting, the agenda items will be
described, discussed, and attendees will have the opportunity to pose
questions and offer comments. Comments may be sent to the FSIS Docket
Room (see ADDRESSES). Written comments should state that they relate to
activities of the 34th CCFAC.
Additional Public Notification
Pursuant to Departmental Regulation 4300-4, ``Civil Rights Impact
Analysis,'' dated September 22, 1993, FSIS has considered the potential
civil rights impact of this notice on minorities, women, and persons
with disabilities. Therefore, to better ensure that these groups and
others are made aware of this meeting, FSIS will announce it and
provide copies of the Federal Register publication in the FSIS
Constituent Update.
The Agency provides a weekly FSIS Constituent Update, which is
communicated via fax to over 300 organizations and individuals. In
addition, the update is available on line through the FSIS web page
located at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.fsis.usda.gov. The update is used to provide
information regarding Agency policies, procedures, regulations, Federal
Register Notices, FSIS public meetings, recalls and any other types of
information that could affect or would be of interest to our
constituents/stakeholders. The constituent fax list consists of
industry, trade, and farm groups, consumer interest groups, allied
health professionals, scientific professionals and other individuals
that have requested to be included. Through these various channels, the
Agency is able to provide information with a much broader, more diverse
audience.
For more information and to be added to the constituent fax list,
fax your request to the Office of Congressional and Public Affairs, at
(202) 720-5704.
Done at Washington, DC on: January 23, 2002.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 02-2134 Filed 1-28-02; 8:45 am]
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