[Federal Register: October 29, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 208)]
[Notices]
[Page 61106-61107]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29oc07-22]
========================================================================
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.
========================================================================
[[Page 61106]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. FSIS-2007-0042]
Codex Alimentarius Commission: Meeting of the Codex Committee on
Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems
AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, United
States Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are sponsoring a
public meeting. The meeting will be held on November 1, 2007, 1 p.m.-3
p.m. to discuss the agenda items coming before the 16th Session of the
Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification
Systems (CCFICS) and present draft positions on the agenda items. The
16th Session of the CCFICS will be held November 26-November 30, 2007,
in Queensland, Australia. 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 CCFICS.
DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 1, 2007,
from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in Room 0161 of the South
Agriculture Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC
(Smithsonian Metro stop). Documents related to the 16th Session of the
CCFICS will be accessible via the World Wide Web at the following
address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.
The U.S. Delegate to the 16th Session of CCFICS, Dr. Catherine
Carnevale, Director, Office of Constituent Operations, Center for Food
Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), FDA, invites U.S. interested
parties to submit their comments electronically to Dr. Michael Wehr,
Acting Deputy Director, Codex Program Coordinator, International
Affairs Staff, CFSAN, FDA, E-mail address: michael.wehr@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 Commission was established in 1963 by two
United Nations organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). 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 CCFICS was established to develop principles and guidelines for
food import and export inspection and certification systems to
facilitate trade through harmonization and to supply safe and quality
foods to consumers. Included in the charge is application of measures
by competent authorities to provide assurance that foods comply with
essential requirements. The Committee is hosted by the government of
Australia.
Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting
Draft Provisional Agenda items to be discussed at the public
meeting:
Matters Referred to the Committee by the Codex
Alimentarius Commission and Other Codex Committees and Task Forces
Proposed Draft Appendix to the Guidelines on the Judgement
of Equivalence of Sanitary Measures Associated with Food Inspection and
Certification at Step 4
Discussion Paper on the Need to Revise the Codex
Alimentarius Commission/Guideline (CAC/GL) 20-1995 and CAC/GL 26-1997
Discussion Paper on the Need for Guidance for National
Food Inspection Systems
Discussion Paper on the Development of Guidelines for the
Conduct of Foreign Audit Team Inspections
Discussion Paper on the Need for Further Guidance on
Traceability/Product Tracing
Consistency of the Draft Model Export Certificate for Milk
and Milk Products with CAC/GL 38-2001
Other Business and Future Work: Discussion Paper on the
Development of a Generic Template for Health Certificates
Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed,
or to be distributed, by the Codex Secretariat. Members of the public
may access these documents via the World Wide Web at the following
address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.
Public Meeting
At the November 1, 2007, public meeting, the agenda items coming
before the 16th Session of the CCFICS will be 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 the CCFICS, Dr. Catherine Carnevale (see
ADDRESSES). Written comments should state that they relate to
activities of the 16th Session of the CCFICS.
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 online through the FSIS Web page located
at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/2007_Notices_Index/. FSIS
will also 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, and other types of information
that could affect or would be of interest to constituents and
stakeholders. The
[[Page 61107]]
Update is communicated via Listserv, a free electronic mail
subscription service for industry, trade groups, consumer interest
groups, health professionals, and other individuals who have asked to
be included. The Update is also available on the FSIS Web page. Through
Listserv and the 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 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/e-mail_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
accounts.
Done at Washington, DC, on October 23, 2007.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. E7-21142 Filed 10-26-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P