[Federal Register: August 9, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 152)]
[Notices]
[Page 46132-46133]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09au05-36]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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[[Page 46132]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. 05-025N]
Codex Alimentarius Commission: Fifth Session of the Codex ad hoc
Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived From Biotechnology
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, United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS), are sponsoring a public meeting on August 30, 2005, to provide
draft U.S. positions and receive public comments on agenda items that
will be discussed at the Fifth Session of the Codex ad hoc
Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology of the
Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held in Chiba,
Japan, September 19-23, 2005. The Under Secretary and FDA recognize the
importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to comment
on the agenda items that will be debated at this forthcoming Session of
the FBT.
DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 30, 2005,
from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in Room 107A, Jamie Whitten
Building, 1400 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC.
Documents related to the Fifth Session of the FBT 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, USDA, 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 05-025N. 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/.
Participation by Conference Call: A call-in number has been
arranged: 1-888-405-9176, participant code CODEX.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE FIFTH SESSION OF THE FBT CONTACT:
U.S. Delegate, Bernice Slutsky, Special Assistant to the Secretary for
Biotechnology, Office of the Secretary, USDA, 1400 Independence Ave.,
SW., Washington, DC 20250, Phone (202) 720-3631, Fax: (202) 720-6314,
E-mail: Bernice.Slutsky@usda.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PUBLIC MEETING CONTACT: Ellen Matten,
International Issues Analyst, U.S. Codex Office, Food Safety and
Inspection Service, Room 4861, South Building, 1400 Independence
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250, Phone: (202) 205-7760, Fax: (202)
720-3157.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Codex Alimentarius (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 the
Environmental Protection Agency manage and carry out U.S. Codex
activities.
The Codex ad hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived from
Biotechnology was established by the 23rd Session of the Codex
Alimentarius Commission in 1999 to elaborate standards, guidelines, or
other principles as relates to foods derived from biotechnology. The
Task Force completed its mandates within its four year time frame and
was dissolved by the 26th Session of the Commission. The 27th Session
re-established the Task Force for another four year period. The Task
Force is hosted by the government of Japan.
Issues to be Discussed at the Public Meeting
The following items on the agenda for the Fifth Session of FBT will
be discussed during the public meeting:
Matters referred to the Committee from other Codex bodies.
Review of the Work by International Organizations on the
Evaluation of the Safety and Nutrition Aspects of Foods Derived from
Biotechnology.
Consideration of the Elaboration of Standards, Guidelines
or other Texts for Foods Derived from Biotechnology.
Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed,
or to be distributed, by the Japanese Secretariat to the Meeting.
Members of the public may access or request copies of these documents
at: http://www.codexalimentarious.net/current.asp.
Public Meeting
At the August 30, 2005, public meeting, draft U.S. positions on
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 Fifth Session of FBT, Dr. Bernice Slutsky, (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION ABOUT THE FIFTH SESSION OF THE FBT CONTACT). Written
comments should state that they relate to activities of the Fifth
Session of the FBT.
Additional Public Information
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
[[Page 46133]]
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 electronic mail subscription service for 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 electronic mail 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 protect their accounts with passwords.
Done at Washington, DC on August 4, 2005.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 05-15729 Filed 8-8-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P