[Federal Register: February 2, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 21)]
[Notices]
[Page 4918-4920]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02fe04-16]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety Inspection Service
[Docket No. 03-049N]
National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria
for Foods (NACMCF) will hold a public meeting of the full committee on
February 13, 2004. The committee will discuss: (1) Performance
standards for broilers (young chickens)/ground chicken, (2) the
scientific basis for establishing safety-based ``use by'' date labeling
for refrigerated ready-to-eat foods, and (3) scientific criteria for
redefining pasteurization. Subcommittees will also meet as follows:
February 10th--Microbiological Performance Standards for Broilers
(young chicken)/Ground Chicken 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
February 11th--Criteria for Refrigerated Shelf-Life Based on Safety
8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
February 12th--Scientific Criteria for Redefining Pasteurization 8:30
a.m.-12 p.m. and Criteria for Refrigerated Shelf-Life Based on Safety 1
p.m.-5 p.m.
DATES: The full Committee will hold an open meeting on Friday, February
13,
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2004 from 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Subcommittee meetings will be held on
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, February 10, 11 and 12, 2004.
Subcommittee meetings are open to the public.
Note: FSIS was not able to publish notification of this public
meeting in the Federal Register at least 15 days prior to the
meeting, as required by Departmental Regulation 1041-001, due to
late changes in the agenda.
ADDRESSES: The February 10-13 sub- and full-committee meetings will be
held at the Sheraton Buckhead, 3405 Lenox Road; NE, Atlanta, GA 30326;
telephone number 404-261-9250. Public comments and all documents
related to full committee meetings will be available for public
inspection in the FSIS Docket Room between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday. The comments and NACMCF documents will also be
available on the Internet at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/Publications.htm
.
FSIS will finalize an agenda on or before the meeting date and post
it to its Internet web page. Send an original and two copies of
comments to the Food Safety and Inspection Service Docket Room: Docket
03-049N, Room 102 Cotton Annex Building, 300 12th Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20250. Comments may also be sent by facsimile to (202)
205-0381. The comments and official transcripts of the February 13,
2004 full committee meeting, when they become available, will be kept
in the FSIS Docket Room at the above address and will also be posted on
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPHS/NACMCF/transcripts.
FSIS intends to post all comments associated with this docket on
its web page in the near future. The comments will also be made
available in the FSIS Docket Room. See the disclaimer section below
regarding modifications that may be necessary due to the presentation
of the comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Persons interested in making a
presentation, submitting technical papers, or providing comments should
contact Karen Thomas, phone (202) 690-6620, Fax (202) 690-6334, e-mail
address: karen.thomas@fsis.usda.gov, or mailing address: Food Safety
and Inspection Service, Department of Agriculture, Office of Public
Health and Science, Aerospace Center, Room 333, 1400 Independence
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-3700. Persons requiring a sign
language interpreter or other special accommodations should notify Ms.
Thomas by January 30, 2004.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The NACMCF was established on April 18, 1988, in response to a
recommendation of the National Academy of Sciences for an interagency
approach to microbiological criteria for food, and in response to a
recommendation of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on
Appropriations, as expressed in the Rural Development, Agriculture, and
Related Agencies Appropriation Bill for fiscal year 1988. The Charter
for the NACMCF is available for viewing on the FSIS Internet Web page
at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/programs/nacmcf_chart.htm
The NACMCF provides scientific advice and recommendations to the
Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services
on public health issues relative to the safety and wholesomeness of the
U.S. food supply including development of microbiological criteria and
review and evaluation of epidemiological and risk assessment data and
methodologies for assessing microbiological hazards in foods. The
Committee also provides advice to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and the Departments of Commerce and Defense.
Dr. Merle Pierson, Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, USDA, is
the Committee Chair, Dr. Robert E. Brackett, Director of Food and Drug
Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN),
is the Vice-Chair, and Gerri Ransom, FSIS, is the Executive
Secretariat.
At the February 13, 2004, meeting, the Committee will:
Discuss performance standards work on the
commodities of broilers (young chickens)/ground chicken
Discuss continuing work on the scientific basis for
establishing safety-based ``use by'' date labeling for refrigerated
ready-to-eat foods
Discuss continuing work on the scientific criteria
fora redefining pasteurization.
Documents Reviewed by NACMCF
FSIS intends to make available to the public all materials that are
reviewed and considered by NACMCF regarding its deliberations.
Generally, these materials will be made available as soon as possible
after the full committee meeting. Further, FSIS intends to make these
materials available in both electronic format on the FSIS Web page, as
well as in hard copy format in the docket room. Often, an attempt is
made to make the materials available at the start of the full committee
meeting when sufficient time is allowed in advance to do so.
DISCLAIMER: For electronic copies, all NACMCF documents and
comments are electronic conversions from a variety of source formats
into HTML that may have resulted in character translation or format
errors. Readers are cautioned not to rely on this HTML document. Minor
changes to materials in electronic format may be necessary in order to
meet the electronic and information technology accessibility standards
contained in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act in which graphs,
charts, and tables must be accompanied by a text descriptor in order
for the vision-impaired to be made aware of the content. FSIS will add
these text descriptors along with a qualifier that the text is a
simplified interpretation of the graph, chart, or table. Portable
Document Format (PDF) and/or paper documents of the official text,
figures, and tables can be obtained from the FSIS Docket Room.
Copyrighted documents will not be posted on the FSIS Web site, but
will be available for inspection in the FSIS docket room.
Additional Public Notification
Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy
development is important. Consequently, in an effort to better ensure
that minorities, women, and persons with disabilities are aware of this
notice; FSIS will announce it and make copies of this Federal Register
publication available through the FSIS Constituent Update, which is
communicated via Listserv, a free e-mail subscription service. In
addition, the update is available on-line through the FSIS Web page
located at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov. The update is used to provide
information regarding FSIS policies, procedures, regulations, Federal
Register notices, FSIS public meetings, recalls, and other types of
information that could affect or would be of interest to our
constituents and stakeholders. The constituent Listserv 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 the Listserv and Web page,
FSIS is able to provide information to a much broader, more diverse
audience.
For more information contact the Congressional and Public Affairs
Office, at (202) 720-9113. To be added to the free e-mail subscription
service (Listserv) go to the ``Constituent Update'' page on the FSIS
Web site at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/oa/update/update.htm. Click on the
``Subscribe to
[[Page 4920]]
the Constituent Update Listserv'' link, then fill out and submit the
form.
Done at Washington, DC, on January 29, 2004.
Garry L. McKee,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 04-2131 Filed 1-29-04; 1:41 pm]