[Federal Register: October 30, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 209)]
[Notices]
[Page 63280-63281]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30oc06-32]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. FSIS-2006-0032]
Codex Alimentarius Commission: Sixth 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.
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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) are sponsoring a public meeting on November 14,
2006 to discuss the agenda items coming before the Sixth Session of the
Codex ad hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived from
Biotechnology (FBT) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) and
present draft U.S. positions on the agenda items. The Sixth Session of
the FBT will be held in Chiba, Japan, November 27-December 1, 2006. 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, November 14, 2006
from 2 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 Sixth Session of the FBT will be accessible via the World Wide
Web at the following address: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp
.
For Further Information About the Sixth Session of the FBT,
Contact: U.S. Delegate, Dr. Eric Flamm, Senior Advisor, Office of the
Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration (HF-23), Parklawn Building,
Rockville, MD 20857, Phone (301) 827-0591, Fax (301) 827-4774, E-mail:
eric.flamm@fda.hhs.gov.
For Further Information About the Public Meeting Contact: Edith
Kennard, Staff Officer, U.S. Codex Office, Food Safety and Inspection
Service, 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 (Codex) was established in 1962 by two
United Nations organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization and
the World Health Organization. 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 protect the health of consumers and ensure fair
practices in trade. 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 timeframe 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 Sixth Session of the 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.
Proposed Draft Guideline for the Conduct of Food Safety
Assessment of Foods Derived from Recombinant-DNA Animals.
Proposed Draft Annex (scoping document) to the Guideline
for the Conduct of Food Safety Assessment of Foods Derived from
Recombinant-DNA Plants; Food Safety Assessment of Food Derived from
Recombinant-DNA Plants Modified for Nutritional or Health Benefits.
Discussion Paper on Comparative Food Composition Analysis
of Staple Foods.
Discussion Paper on Sanitary Surveillance after Placing on
the Market Foods Derived from Biotechnology.
Discussion Paper on Safety Assessment of Foods Derived
from Animals Exposed to Protection against Disease through Gene Therapy
or Recombinant-DNA Vaccines.
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 copies of these documents at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.codexalimentarius.net/
current.asp.
Public Meeting
At the November 14, 2006 public meeting, draft U.S. positions on
these agenda items will be described and 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 of
the FBT, Dr. Eric Flamm at eric.flamm@fda.hhs.gov. Written
[[Page 63281]]
comments should state that they relate to activities of the Sixth
Session of the FBT.
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://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=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 e-mail subscription service which
provides automatic and customized access to selected food safety news
and information. This service is available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.fsis.usda.gov/news_and
--events/email--subscription/. 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 at Washington, DC, on: October 25, 2006.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. E6-18145 Filed 10-27-06; 8:45 am]
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