[Federal Register: February 13, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 29)]
[Notices]
[Page 6709-6710]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13fe07-14]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. FSIS-2007-0005]
Codex Alimentarius Commission: Meeting of the Codex Committee on
Methods of Analysis and Sampling
AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) are sponsoring a public meeting on February 22, 2007. The
objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive
public comments on agenda items and draft United States positions that
will be discussed at the Twenty-Eighth Session of the Codex Committee
on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) of the Codex Alimentarius
Commission (Codex), which will be held in Budapest, Hungary March 5-9,
2007. The Under Secretary for Food Safety and The Food and Drug
Administration recognize the importance of providing interested parties
the opportunity to obtain background information on the 28th Session of
CCMAS and to address items on the agenda.
DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 22, 2007
from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon.
[[Page 6710]]
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in Room 1A002, Harvey Wiley
Federal Building, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740.
Documents related to the 28th Session of CCMAS will be accessible via
the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp
.
The U.S. Delegate to the 28th Session of CCMAS, Dr. Gregory
Diachenko of FDA invites U.S. interested parties to submit their
comments electronically to the following e-mail address
Gregory.Diachenko@fda.hhs.gov.
For Further Information About the 28th Session of the CCMAS Contact:
Dr. Gregory Diachenko, Room HFS-245, Harvey Wiley Federal Building,
5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740-3835, Phone: (301)
436-1898, Fax: (301) 436-2364, e-mail: Gregory.Diachenko@fda.hhs.gov.
For Further Information About the Public Meeting Contact: Mr. Syed Ali,
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 syed.ali@fsis.usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Codex Alimentarius (Codex) was established in 1963 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 that fair
practices are used in trade.
The Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling was
established to elaborate codes, standards and related texts to define
the criteria appropriate to Codex Methods of Analysis and Sampling. The
Committee is hosted by Hungary.
Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting
The following items on the Agenda for the 28th Session of CCMAS
will be discussed during the public meeting:
Matters Referred to the Committee by the Codex
Alimentarius Commission and other Codex Committees.
Draft Guidelines for Evaluating Acceptable Methods of
Analysis.
Draft Guidelines for Settling Disputes over Analytical
(Test) Results.
Proposed Draft Guidelines on Analytical Terminology for
Codex Use.
Endorsement of Methods of Analysis Provisions in Codex
Standards.
Conversion of Methods for Trace Elements into Criteria.
Criteria for the Methods for the Detection and
Identification of Foods Derived from Biotechnology.
Revision of the Principles for the Establishment of Codex
Sampling Procedures.
Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed,
or to be distributed, by the Secretariat prior to the meeting. Members
of the public may access or request copies of these documents (see For
Further Information About the 28th Session of the CCMAS Contact).
Public Meeting
At the February 22, 2007 public meeting, draft U.S. positions on
the 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 for
the 28th Session of CCMAS, Dr. Gregory Diachenko (see ADDRESSES).
Written comments should state that they relate to activities of the
28th Session of CCMAS.
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/2007_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://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 February 8, 2007.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. E7-2437 Filed 2-12-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P