[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 187 (Tuesday, September 27, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59656-59657]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office
[FR Doc No: 2011-24797]


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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.

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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 187 / Tuesday, September 27, 2011 / 
Notices

[[Page 59656]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2011-0021]


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 and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food Safety and Inspection Service 
(FSIS) is sponsoring a public meeting on October 4, 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 19th Session of the Codex Committee on Food 
Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS), of the 
Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held in Cairns, 
Australia October 17-21, 2011. The Under Secretary for Food Safety 
recognizes the importance of providing interested parties the 
opportunity to obtain background information on the 19th Session of the 
CCFICS, and to address items on the agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 4, 2011, 
from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in the South Agriculture 
Building, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 0161-S, Washington, 
DC 20250. Documents related to the 19th Session of the CCFICS will be 
accessible via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp
    Mary Stanley, U.S. Delegate to the 19th Session of the CCFICS 
invites U.S. interested parties to submit their comments electronically 
to the following e-mail address Mary.Stanley@fsis.usda.gov.
    Call-In Number:
    If you wish to participate in the public meeting for the 19th 
Session of the CCFICS 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 19th Session of the CCFICS CONTACT: 
Mary Stanley, Director, International Policy Division, Office of Policy 
and Program Development, FSIS, USDA, South Agriculture Building, Room 
2925, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250, telephone: 
(202) 720-0287, fax: (202) 720-4929, e-mail: 
Mary.Stanley@fsis.usda.gov.
    For Further Information About the Public Meeting Contact: Karen 
Stuck, U.S. Codex Office, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 4861, 
Washington, DC 20250, telephone: (202) 205-7760, fax: (202) 720-3157, 
e-mail: uscodex@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 trade.

The CCFICS Is Responsible for

    (a) Developing principles and guidelines for food import and export 
inspection and certification systems with a view to harmonizing methods 
and procedures which protect the health of consumers, ensure fair 
trading practices and facilitate international trade in foodstuffs.
    (b) Developing principles and guidelines for the application of 
measures by the competent authorities of exporting and importing 
countries to provide assurance where necessary that foodstuffs comply 
with requirements, especially statutory health requirements.
    (c) Developing guidelines for the utilization, as and when 
appropriate, of quality assurance systems to ensure that foodstuffs 
conform to requirements and to promote the recognition of these systems 
in facilitating trade in food products under bilateral/multilateral 
arrangements by countries.
    (d) Developing guidelines and criteria with respect to format 
declarations and language of such official certificates as countries 
may require with a view towards international harmonization.
    (e) Making recommendations for information exchange in relation to 
food import/export control.
    (f) Consulting as necessary with other international groups working 
on matters related to food inspection and certification systems.
    (g) Considering other matters assigned to it by Codex in relation 
to food inspection and certification systems.
    The CCFICS is hosted by Australia.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following items on the agenda for the 19th Session of the 
CCFICS will be discussed during the public meeting:
     Matters referred to the Committee by Codex and other Codex 
Committees and Task Forces.
     Activities of the FAO and the WHO relevant to the work of 
the CCFICS.
     Activities of other international organizations relevant 
to the work of the CCFICS.
     Proposed draft Principles and Guidelines for National Food 
Control Systems.
     Other business and future work.
     Discussion paper on further guidance regarding attestation 
in Generic Model Official Certificate.
     Proposals for new work.
    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 copies of these documents (see ADDRESSES).

Public Meeting

    At the October 4, 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 Mary Stanley, U.S. Delegate 
for the 19th Session of the CCFICS (see ADDRESSES).

[[Page 59657]]

Written comments should state that they relate to activities of the 
19th Session of the CCFICS.

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.

     Done at Washington, DC, on September 20, 2011.
Karen Stuck,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 2011-24797 Filed 9-26-11; 8:45 am]
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