[Federal Register: September 19, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 183)]
[Notices]
[Page 54361-54362]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19se08-25]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. FSIS-2008-0032]
Codex Alimentarius Commission: 2nd Session of the Codex ad hoc
Intergovernmental Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance
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 September 25,
2008, to discuss the agenda items coming before the 2nd session of the
Codex ad hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance
(AMR) and to present draft U.S. positions on the agenda items. The 2nd
session of the AMR will be held in Seoul, Korea, October 20-24, 2008.
The Under Secretary and FDA recognize the importance of providing
interested parties the opportunity to comment on the agenda items that
will be discussed at this forthcoming session of AMR.
DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 25,
2008, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at FDA, 7519 Standish Place,
Room 152, Rockville, MD.
Documents related to the 2nd session of the AMR will be accessible
via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://
www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.
For Further Information About the 2nd Session of the AMR Contact:
U.S. Delegate, Dr. David White, Director, National Antimicrobial
Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS), FDA, Center for Veterinary
Medicine, Office of Research, 8401 Muirkirk Rd., Laurel, MD 20798,
Phone: (301) 210-4181, E-mail: david.white@fda.hhs.gov.
For Further Information About the Public Meeting Contact:
Edith Kennard, Staff Officer, U.S. Codex Office, Food Safety and
Inspection Service (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 (Codex) 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 Codex ad hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on AMR was
established by the 29th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in
2006 to develop science-based guidance to be used to assess the risks
to human health associated with the presence in food and feed,
including aquaculture, and the transmission through food and feed of
antimicrobial resistant microorganisms and antimicrobial resistance
genes. The AMR Task Force would also consider appropriate risk
management options to reduce such risk. The Task Force is hosted by the
Republic of Korea.
Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting
The following items on the agenda for the 2nd session of the AMR
will be discussed during the public meeting:
Matters Referred to the Committee from Other Codex Bodies
Information on the Work by FAO, WHO, and the World
Organization for Animal Health on Antimicrobial Resistance
Proposed Draft Risk Assessment Guidance Regarding
Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistant Microorganisms (Report of the Working
Group)
Proposed Draft Guidance on Creating Risk Profiles for
Antimicrobial Resistant Foodborne Microorganisms for Setting Risk
Assessment and Management Priorities (Report of the Working Group)
Proposed Draft Risk Management Guidance to Contain
Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistant Microorganisms (Report of the Working
Group)
Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed,
or to be distributed, by the Korean Secretariat to the meeting. Members
of the public may access copies of these documents at http://
www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.
Public Meeting
At the September 25, 2008, 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.
[[Page 54362]]
Delegate to the Task Force on AMR, Dr. David White, at
david.white@fda.hhs.gov. Written comments should state that they relate
to activities of the 2nd session of the Task Force on AMR.
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/2008_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 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 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 they have the option to password protect
their accounts.
Done at Washington, DC, on September 16, 2008.
Karen Hulebak,
Acting U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. E8-22080 Filed 9-17-08; 4:15 pm]
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