[Federal Register: June 30, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 125)]]
[Notices]
[Page 37752-37753]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30jn10-24]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. FSIS-2010-0019]
Measuring Progress on Food Safety: Current Status and Future
Directions; Public Meeting
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
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SUMMARY: This notice is announcing that the Food Safety and Inspection
Service (FSIS), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are jointly hosting two
public meetings to obtain stakeholder input. The first is on July 21,
2010, in Chicago, IL. The second will be held on October 20, 2010, in
Portland, OR. The Agencies are requesting information from all
stakeholders, including the regulated food industry, State regulators,
and consumer groups, on appropriate metrics to be used to assess
performance in food safety. The Agencies are also interested in input
on stakeholders' understanding and perceptions of metrics currently
being used by the Federal Agencies. Although the Agencies are primarily
interested in obtaining stakeholder input, the Agencies will present a
limited amount of background on the Food Safety Working Group's charge
to create meaningful metrics to measure the effectiveness of the
Nation's food safety system and the Agency's current thinking on these
issues.
DATES: The public meetings will be held on Wednesday, July 21, 2010, 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. in Chicago, IL, and on October 20, 2010, 9 a.m. to 5
p.m. in Portland, OR.
Any changes to public meeting dates, times, location, and agenda
will be posted on the FSIS Web site and announced in the Agency's
Constituent Update.
For Registration Information Contact: Jodee Warner, EDJ Associates,
Inc., 11300 Rockville Pike, Suite 1001, Rockville, MD 20852, telephone:
(240) 221-4296, Fax: (301) 945-4295, e-mail: jwarner@edjassociates.com.
For general questions about the public meeting, request to make an
oral presentation and submission of a presentation, and for special
accommodations due to a disability, contact: Juanita Yates, Center for
Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA, (301) 436-1731, e-mail:
juanita.yates@fda.hhs.gov.
Due to limited space, we encourage all persons who wish to attend
the public meeting, including those requesting an opportunity to make
an oral presentation at the public meeting, to register in advance.
We encourage attendees to register electronically at http://
www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations_&_policies/2010_Notices_Index/
index.asp. You may also register by fax, e-mail or telephone by
providing information, including: Name, organization, address,
telephone number and e-mail address to the Registration Contact (see
For Registration Information Contact).
First Public Meeting
July 21, 2010, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Hyatt Regency Chicago, 151 East
Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60601.
Please note the following important deadlines:
July 6, 2010: Request To Make Oral Presentation.
July 13, 2010: Advance Registration.
July 13, 2010: Request Special Accommodations Due to Disability.
Second Public Meeting
October 20, 2010, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., The Crowne Plaza Portland
Downtown, 1441 NE Second Avenue, Portland, OR 97232.
Please note the following important deadlines:
September 24, 2010: Request To Make Oral Presentation.
October 8, 2010: Advance Registration.
October 8, 2010: Request Special Accommodation Due to Disability.
All documents related to the public meeting will be available for
public inspection in the FSIS Docket Room, USDA, FSIS, Room 2-2127,
George Washington Carver Center, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Mailstop 5474,
Beltsville, MD 20705-5474 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday
through Friday, as soon as they become available.
FDA: Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: All stakeholders in the U.S. food safety
system are pursuing major new efforts to reduce foodborne illness that
include science-based preventive controls in food production and
processing. As recommended by President Obama's Food Safety Working
Group, one element of the Federal Government's food safety initiatives
includes regularly assessing performance metrics for measuring progress
in reducing foodborne illness. FSIS, FDA, and CDC are collaborating to
address the methodological and data challenges involved in the
development of feasible and effective food safety performance metrics.
An initial 1-day public meeting on measuring progress on food
safety was held on March 30, 2010, in Washington, DC (75 FR 9232). The
public meetings announced in this notice are extensions of that initial
public workshop. A transcript of the initial public workshop held on
March 30, 2010, is accessible at http://www.regulations.gov. It may be
viewed at the Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
I. Background
At our March 30, 2010, workshop, FDA, FSIS, and CDC presented their
current thinking on performance metrics. The Agencies presented
information on various epidemiological and non-epidemiological measures
for food safety. Workshop participants recommended that the Agencies
provide an opportunity for stakeholders to provide more detail on their
views regarding metrics and on current methods being used. Accordingly,
the Agencies will hold two regional public meetings specifically to
allow stakeholders to make presentations on metrics for food safety.
The Agencies will also provide updated information about their use of
metrics to measure food safety.
The Agencies are interested in gathering information on metrics
from members of industry, consumer groups,
[[Page 37753]]
and State and local regulators, and other stakeholders. With respect to
such information, the Agencies anticipate that presenters will be able
to address issues such as whether industry members have metrics in
place to assess whether suppliers meet purchase specifications that
address food safety. If so, what data are used? Similarly, does the
industry have metrics in place to assess the safety of the finished
products they produce? If so, what data are used? Does the industry
employ metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of their food safety
systems? If so, what data are used? Has industry found some metrics
that have been particularly effective in evaluating food safety? Are
there other metrics that industry has found to be inadequate for
measuring food safety? Also, what metrics do consumer groups use to
measure food safety? What metrics would they like to use? What are the
barriers to using these metrics? Have these groups found some to be
effective and others to be inadequate? Do State or local regulators use
metrics to measure the effectiveness of their programs for achieving
food safety?
To provide some insight into the current thinking of the Agencies,
the Federal Agencies will share information at the Chicago, IL, public
meetings about the shared list of metrics that was developed by the
three Federal Agencies to support the work of the White House Food
Safety Working Group. The Agencies will present an example of how these
metrics might be applied. The example will focus on applying these
metrics to progress on Salmonella Enteritidis as FDA implements the egg
rule, FSIS implements broiler chicken controls, and CDC collects and
analyzes human disease data.
The Agencies will finalize an agenda on or before the public
meeting date and post it on the FSIS Web page at: http://
www.fsis.usda.gov/Regulations/2010_Notices_Index/index.asp.
II. Transcripts
When it becomes available, the official transcript of the public
meeting will be kept in the FSIS Docket Room at the above address and
will also be posted on the Agency Web site, http://www.fsis.usda.gov/
Regulations/2010_Notices_Index/index.asp.
All interested parties are welcome to attend the public meetings.
USDA Nondiscrimination Statement
USDA prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on
the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age,
disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or
family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.)
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for
communication of program information (Braille, large print, or
audiotape.) should contact USDA's Target Center at 202-720-2600 (voice
and TTY).
To file a written complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Office
of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue,
SW., Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964 (voice and TTY).
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
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 Webpage located
at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/2010_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
Webpage. Through Listserv and the webpage, 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_&_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 accounts.
Done at Washington, DC, on: June 24, 2010.
Alfred V. Almanza,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2010-15813 Filed 6-29-10; 8:45 am]
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