[Federal Register: April 19, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 75)]
[Notices]
[Page 20070-20072]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19ap06-45]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. FSIS-2006-0007]
Codex Alimentarius Commission: Meeting of the Codex Committee on
Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods
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 Center for Veterinary
Medicine (CVM), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are sponsoring a
public meeting on Wednesday, April 26, 2006, to provide information and
receive public comments on agenda items that will be discussed at the
Sixteenth Session of the Codex Committee on Residues in Veterinary
Drugs in Foods, which will be held in Cancun, Mexico, May 8-12, 2006.
The Under Secretary and CVM recognize the importance of providing
interested parties with information about the Codex Committee on
Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) of the Codex
Alimentarius Commission and to address items on the Agenda for the 16th
Session of the Committee.
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DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 26, 2006,
from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in Room 1160, South
Agriculture Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC
20250. Documents related to the 16th Session of CCRVDF will be
accessible via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net.
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. 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-2006-0007 to submit or view public comments and to view supporting
and related materials available electronically.
Mail, including floppy disks or CD-ROM's, and hand- or courier-
delivered items: Send to FSIS Docket Room, Docket Clerk, USDA, Food
Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), 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-2006-0007.
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 16th Session of CCRVDF Contact:
U.S. Delegate, Dr. Steven Vaughn, Director, Office of New Animal Drug
Evaluation, Center for Veterinary Medicine, FDA, 7500 Standish Place,
Rockville, MD 20855, Phone: (301) 827-1796, Fax: (301) 594-2297. E-
mail: svaughn@cvm.fda.gov.
For Further Information About the Public Meeting Contact: Edith E.
Kennard, Staff Officer, U.S. Codex Office, FSIS, Room 4861, South
Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250, Phone:
(202) 720-5261, Fax: (202) 720-3157, E-mail:
edith.kennard@fsis.usda.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 organization for encouraging fair international
trade in food and protecting the health and economic interests of
consumers. 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.
The Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods was
established in 1985 by the 16th Session of the Codex Alimentarius
Commission to determine priorities for the consideration of residues of
veterinary drugs in foods, to recommend maximum levels of such
substances, to develop codes of practice as may be required, and to
consider methods of sampling and analysis for the determination of
veterinary drug residues in foods. The Committee is chaired by the
United States.
Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting
The following items on the agenda for the 16th Session of CCRVDF
will be discussed during the public meeting:
Draft Maximum Residue Limits for Veterinary Drugs at Steps
7, 6, 4 and 3
Proposed Draft Revised Guidelines for the Establishment of
a Regulatory Program for the Control of Veterinary Drug Residues in
Foods
Proposed Draft Revised Part I, II, and III of the Codex
Guidelines for the Establishment of a Regulatory Program for the
Control of Veterinary Drug Residues in Foods
Risk Management Methodologies, Including Risk Assessment
Policies, in the Codex Committee of Veterinary Drugs in Foods
Review of Performance-based Criteria for Methods of
Analysis
Consideration of the Priority List of Veterinary Drugs
Requiring Evaluation or Re-evaluation
Report of the Working Group on Residues of Veterinary
Drugs without ADI/MRL
Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed,
or to be distributed, by the U.S. Secretariat to the Meeting. Members
of the public may access or request copies of these documents via the
World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net
.
Public Meeting
At the April 26, 2006 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 16th
Session of CCRVDF, Dr. Steven Vaughn, (see For Further Information
About the 16th Session of CCRVDF Contact). Written comments should
state that they relate to activities of the 16th Session of the CCRVDF.
Additional Public Notification
Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy
development is important. Consequently, in an effort to ensure that
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/. 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 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 and other
individuals who have asked to be included. The update is available on
the FSIS Web page. Through the Listserv and Web page, FSIS is able to
provide information to a much broader and more diverse audience. In
addition, FSIS offers an electronic mail subscription service that
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-FAIM customers to sign
up for subscription options in eight categories. Options range from
recalls to export information to regulations, directives and notices.
Customers can add or delete subscriptions themselves and
[[Page 20072]]
have the option to protect their accounts with passwords.
Done at Washington, DC on April 14, 2006.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. E6-5876 Filed 4-18-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P