[Federal Register: February 15, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 30)]
[Notices]
[Page 7712-7713]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15fe05-33]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. 04-053N]
Codex Alimentarius Commission: Proposals for New Work and
Priorities for the Codex ad hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods
Derived From Biotechnology
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting, request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Office of the 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 March 3, 2005, to provide
information and receive public comments on new work and priorities for
the ad hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Food Derived from
Biotechnology of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex). Following
approval at the 27th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (June
28-July 3, 2004) to establish the Task Force, under the chairmanship of
Japan, Codex agreed to solicit comments on the work that the Task Force
should undertake and on the priorities for this new work.
DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 3, 2005,
from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in Room 107-A of the Jamie
L. Whitten Federal Building, 12th & Jefferson Drive, SW., Washington
DC.
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 04-053N.
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 Friday. The
comments also will be posted on the Agency's Web site at
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/2005_Notices_Index/index.asp.
For further information about the Codex ad hoc Intergovernmental
Task Force on Food Derived from Biotechnology contact: Bernice Slutsky,
Ph.D., Special Assistant to the Secretary for Biotechnology, Office of
the Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 12th Street & Jefferson
Drive, Washington, DC 20250. Phone: (202) 690-0735, e-mail:
Bernice.slutsky@usda.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PUBLIC MEETING CONTACT: Paulo
Almeida, U.S. Codex Office, FSIS, Room 4861, South Building, 1400
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-3700, phone: (202) 690-
4042, Fax: (202) 720-3157.
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 ad hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived from
Biotechnology develops standards, guidelines and recommendations for
foods derived from modern biotechnology or for traits introduced into
foods by modern biotechnology, on the basis of scientific evidence and
risk analysis, having regard, where appropriate, to other legitimate
factors relevant to the health of consumers and the promotion of fair
practices in the food trade.
Public Meeting
At the March 3, 2005 public meeting, attendees will have the
opportunity to pose questions and offer comments on work to be
undertaken by the Codex ad hoc Task Force on Foods Derived from
Biotechnology. Written comments may be offered at the meeting or sent
to Dr. Bernice Slutsky (See ADDRESSES). Written comments should state
that they relate to activities of the proposed ad hoc Codex
Intergovernmental Task
[[Page 7713]]
Force for Foods Derived from Biotechnology.
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/regulations/2005_Notices_Index/
.
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 meetings, 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 also 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.
In addition, FSIS offers an email subscription service which
provides an automatic and customized notification when popular pages
are updated, including Federal Register publications and related
documents. This service is available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/news_and_events/email_subscription/
and allows FSIS customers to sign up
for subscription options across eight categories. Options range from
recalls to export information to regulations, directives and notices.
Customers can add or delete subscriptions themselves and have the
option to password protect their account.
Done in Washington, DC on: February 8, 2005.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 05-2824 Filed 2-14-05; 8:45 am]