[Federal Register: February 13, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 29)]
[Notices]
[Page 7505-7506]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13fe06-30]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. FSIS-2005-0046]
Codex Alimentarius Commission: 38th 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, 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 6, 2006, to provide
information and receive public 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 The Hague, The Netherlands,
on April 24-28, 2006. The Under Secretary and FDA recognize the
importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain
background information on the agenda items that will be discussed at
this forthcoming session of the CCFAC.
DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 6, 2006, from
2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in the Auditorium (Room 1A-
003), Harvey W. Wiley Federal Building, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway,
College Park, Maryland. Documents related to the 38th Session of the
CCFAC will also 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:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: This Web site provides the ability to
type short comments directly into the comment field on this Web page or
attach a file for lengthier comments. FSIS prefers to receive comments
through the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov
and, in the ``Search for Open Regulations'' box,
select ``Food Safety and Inspection Service'' from the agency drop-down
menu, then click on ``Submit.'' In the Docket ID column, select the
FDMS Docket Number (FSIS-2005-0046) to submit or view public comments
and to view supporting and related materials available electronically.
Mail, including floppy disks or CD-ROMs, and hand- or courier-
delivered items: Send to Docket Clerk, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Food Safety and Inspection Service, 300 12th Street, SW., Room 102
Cotton Annex Building, Washington, DC 20250.
Electronic mail: fsis.regulationscomments@fsis.usda.gov. All
submissions received must include the Agency name and docket number
FSIS-2005-0046. All comments submitted in response to this notice, as
well as research and background information used by FSIS in developing
this document, will be posted to the regulations.gov Web site. The
background information and comments also 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE 38TH SESSION OF THE CCFAC CONTACT:
U.S. Delegate, Dr. Terry Troxell, Director, Office of Plant and Dairy
Foods and Beverages, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA,
Harvey W. Wiley Federal Building, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway (HFS-300),
College Park, MD 20740, Phone: (301) 436-1700, Fax: (301) 436-2632, E-
mail: terry.troxell@fda.hhs.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PUBLIC MEETING CONTACT: Ellen Matten,
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. Attendees are requested to pre-
register as soon as possible by e-mail to ccfac@cfsan.fda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) was established in 1963
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 Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (CCFAC)
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 (JECFA); recommends specifications of
identity and purity for food additives for adoption by the Commission;
considers methods of analysis for the determination of food additives
and contaminants in food; and considers and elaborates standards or
[[Page 7506]]
codes for related subjects such as the labeling 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
Items on the provisional agenda of the 38th session of CCFAC to be
discussed during the public meeting:
1. Matters referred or of interest to the committee arising from
the Codex Alimentarius Commission and other Codex committees, including
the endorsement or revision of maximum levels for food additives and
contaminants in Codex commodity standards.
2. Summary report of the 65th meeting of the JECFA and any actions
required as a result of changes in the acceptable daily intake (ADI)
status and other toxicological recommendations.
3. Consideration of the Codex General Standard for Food Additives
(GSFA) including:
(i) Draft Revision of the Preamble of the GSFA,
(ii) Revisions to the CCFAC's working principles for the further
elaboration of the GSFA, including incorporating the food additive
provisions in Codex Commodity Standards into the GSFA,
(iii) Report of the electronic working group on the GSFA,
(iv) Draft and proposed draft food additives provisions requiring
information on their use, and
(v) Proposed draft food additive provisions at Step 3 and proposals
for new uses.
4. Discussion Paper on Food Additive Provisions on Glazes for
Foods.
5. Discussion Paper on the Development of Guidelines for Flavouring
Agents.
6. Updated Inventory of Processing Aids (IPA).
7. International Numbering System (INS) for Food Additives.
(i) Harmonization of Terms used by Codex and JECFA,
(ii) Proposals for revisions or additions to the INS.
8. Specifications for the Identity and Purity of Food Additives.
9. Consideration of the Codex General Standard for Contaminants and
Toxins (GSCT) with proposed draft revisions.
10. Proposed Draft Appendix to the Code of Practice for the
Prevention and Reduction of Aflatoxin Contamination in Tree Nuts to
address additional measures for the prevention and reduction of
aflatoxins in Brazil nuts.
11. Proposed draft Sampling Plan for Aflatoxin contamination in
almonds, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, and pistachios.
12. Proposed draft maximum levels for Aflatoxin in unprocessed and
processed almonds, hazelnuts, and pistachios.
13. Discussion Paper on Aflatoxins in Brazil nuts.
14. Discussion Paper on Deoxynivalenol (DON).
15. Discussion Paper on maximum levels for Ochratoxin (OTA) in
Wine.
16. Discussion Paper on Ochratoxin A Contamination in Coffee and
Cocoa.
17. Draft maximum levels for Lead in Fish.
18. Discussion Paper on maximum levels for Lead in Fish
19. Draft maximum levels for Cadmium in polished rice, marine
bivalve mollusks, and cephalopods.
20. Proposed draft Code of Practice for Source Directed Measures to
Reduce Dioxin and Dioxin-like PCB Contamination of Foods and feeds.
21. Proposed draft Code of Practice for the Reduction of
Chloropropanols during the Production of Acid Hydrolyzed Vegetable
Protein (HVPs) and Products that Contain Acid HVPs.
22. Proposed draft maximum level for 3-MCPD in Liquid Condiments
Containing HVPs and Discussion Paper on Acid-HVPs Containing Products
and other Products containing Chloropropanols.
23. Proposed draft maximum levels for Tin in canned beverages and
other canned foods.
24. Discussion paper on Acrylamide.
25. Discussion paper on Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH)
contamination.
26. Discussion paper on Guideline Levels for Methylmercury in fish.
27. Proposed Draft revised Guideline Levels for Radionuclides in
Foods for use in International Trade.
28. Priority list of food additives, contaminants, and naturally
occurring toxicants proposed for evaluation by JECFA.
29. Discussion Paper on the Development of a Maximum Level for
Aflatoxins in Dried Figs.
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 March 6, 2006, public meeting, the 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 38th Session of the CCFAC,
Dr. Terry Troxell (See FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE 38TH SESSION
OF THE CCFAC CONTACT). Written comments should state that they relate
to activities of the 38th Session of the CCFAC.
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
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/2006_Notices_Index/index.asp
.
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 meeting, 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 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 e-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.
Done at Washington, DC on February 6, 2006.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. E6-1991 Filed 2-10-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P