[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 186 (Monday, September 26, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59381-59382]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office
[FR Doc No: 2011-24569]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2011-0017]


Codex Alimentarius Commission: Meeting of the Codex Committee on 
Food Hygiene

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department 
of Agriculture.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, (USDA), and 
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Health and 
Human Services (HHS), are sponsoring a public meeting on November 15, 
2011. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and 
receive public comments on agenda items and draft United States (U.S.) 
positions that will be discussed at the 43rd Session of the Codex 
Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission 
(Codex), which will be held in Miami, Florida, from December 5-9, 2011. 
The Under Secretary for Food Safety and the FDA recognize the 
importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain 
background information on the 43rd Session of the CCFH and to address 
items on the agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for November 15, 2011, from 1 
p.m. to 4 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in the Jamie L. Whitten 
Building, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 107-A, Washington, 
DC 20250.
    Documents related to the 43rd Session of the CCFH will be 
accessible via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp
    Jenny Scott, U.S. Delegate to the CCFH, invites U.S. interested 
parties to submit their comments electronically to the following e-mail 
address Jenny.Scott@fda.hhs.gov.

Call-In Number

    If you wish to participate in the public meeting for the 43rd 
Session of the CCFH by conference call, please use the call-in number 
and participant code listed below.
    Call-in Number: 1-888-858-2144.
    Participant Code: 6208658.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE 43rd SESSION OF THE CCFH CONTACT: 
Jenny Scott, Senior Advisor, Office of Food Safety, Center for Food 
Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, HFS-300, 
Room 3B-014, College Park, MD 20740-3835, telephone: (240) 402-2166, 
fax: (202) 436-2632, e-mail: Jenny.Scott@fda.hhs.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PUBLIC MEETING CONTACT: Barbara 
McNiff, U.S. Codex Office, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 4861, 
Washington, DC 20250, telephone: (202) 690-4719, fax: (202) 720-3157, 
e-mail: Barbara.McNiff@fsis.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    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 the food trade.
    The CCFH is responsible for:
    (a) Drafting basic provisions on food hygiene applicable to all 
food;
    (b) Considering, amending if necessary, and endorsing provisions on 
hygiene prepared by Codex commodity committees and contained in Codex 
commodity standards;
    (c) Drafting provisions on hygiene applicable to specific food 
items or food groups, whether coming within the terms of reference of a 
Codex commodity committee or not;
    (d) Considering specific hygiene problems assigned to it by Codex;
    (e) Suggesting and prioritizing areas where there is a need for 
microbiological risk assessment at the international level and to 
develop

[[Page 59382]]

questions to be addressed by the risk assessors;
    (f) Considering microbiological risk management matters in relation 
to food hygiene, including food irradiation, and in relation to the 
risk assessment of FAO/WHO.
    The CCFH is hosted by the United States.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following items on the agenda for the 43rd Session of the CCFH 
will be discussed during the public meeting:
     Matters Referred by Codex and/or Other Codex Committees to 
the Food Hygiene Committee.
     Matters arising from the work of FAO, WHO, and other 
International Intergovernmental Organizations: (a) Progress Report on 
the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment 
(JEMRA) and Related Matters; (b) Information from the World 
Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
     Proposed Draft Guidelines on the Application of General 
Principles of Food Hygiene to the Control of Viruses in Food at Step 4.
     Proposed Draft Revision of the Principles for the 
Establishment and Application of Microbiological Criteria for Foods at 
Step 4.
     Proposed Draft Guidelines for Control of Specific Zoonotic 
Parasites in Meat: Trichinella spiralis and Cysticercus bovis at Step 
3.
     Proposed Draft Annex on Melons to the Code of Hygienic 
Practice for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables at Step 3.
     Discussion Paper on the Review of the Risk Analysis 
Principles and Procedures Applied by the CCFH.
     CCFH Work Priorities.
    Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed, 
or to be distributed, by the Codex Secretariat prior to the CCFH 
meeting. Members of the public may access copies of these documents 
(see ADDRESSES).

Public Meeting

    At the November 15, 2011, 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 43rd Session of the CCFH, Jenny Scott (see ADDRESSES). Written 
comments should state that they relate to activities of the 43rd 
Session of the CCFH.

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, audiotape, 
etc.) 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 the 
public and in particular 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_&_policies/Federal_Register_Notices/index.asp.
    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, and other types of information 
that could affect or would be of interest to our constituents and 
stakeholders. The Update is communicated via Listserv, a free e-mail 
subscription service consisting of industry, trade, and farm groups, 
consumer interest groups, allied health professionals, scientific 
professionals, and other individuals who have requested to be included. 
The Update also is available on the FSIS Web page. Through Listserv and 
the Web page, FSIS is able to provide information to a much broader, 
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_&_Events/Email_Subscription/. Options range 
from recalls, export information, regulations, directives, and notices. 
Customers can add or delete subscriptions themselves, and have the 
option to password protect their accounts.

    September 19, 2011.
Karen Stuck,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 2011-24569 Filed 9-23-11; 8:45 am]
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