[Federal Register: August 13, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 156)]
[Notices]
[Page 50158-50159]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13au04-39]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. 04-028N]
National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, this notice
announces that the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological
Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) will hold public meetings of the full
committee and subcommittees on August 24-27, 2004. The committee will
continue to discuss: (1) Performance standards for ground chicken/
ground turkey, (2) the scientific basis for establishing safety-based
``use by'' date labeling for refrigerated ready-to-eat foods, and (3)
scientific criteria for redefining pasteurization.
DATES: The full Committee and subcommittees will hold open meetings on
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, August 24-27, 2004, from 8:30
a.m.-5 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The meetings will be held at the Hotel Monaco, Athens Room,
700 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20004; telephone number 202-628-7177
or 877-205-5411.
FSIS invites interested persons to submit comments on this notice.
Comments may be submitted by mail, including floppy disks or CD-ROM's,
or by hand delivery to Docket Clerk, Department of Agriculture, Food
Safety and Inspection Service, 300 12th Street, SW., Room 102 Cotton
Annex, Washington, DC 20250. All submissions received must include the
Agency name and docket number 04-028N.
Persons interested in making a presentation, submitting technical
papers, or providing comments may send their requests, papers, or
comments to the contact person identified herein at: Food Safety and
Inspection Service, Department of Agriculture, Office of Public Health
and Science, Aerospace Center, Room 333, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20250-3700.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Thomas, phone (202) 690-6620,
fax (202) 690-6334, e-mail address: Karen.thomas@fsis.usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The NACMCF was established on April 18, 1988, in response to a
recommendation of the National Academy of Sciences for an interagency
approach to microbiological criteria for foods, and in response to a
recommendation of the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on
Appropriations, as expressed in the Rural Development, Agriculture, and
Related Agencies Appropriation Bill for fiscal year 1988. The Charter
for the NACMCF is available for viewing on the FSIS Internet Web page
at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/ophs/nacmcf/charter.htm.
The NACMCF provides scientific advice and recommendations to the
Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services
on public health issues relative to the safety and wholesomeness of the
U.S. food supply, including development of microbiological criteria and
review and evaluation of epidemiological and risk assessment data and
methodologies for assessing microbiological hazards in foods. The
Committee also provides advice to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and the Departments of Commerce and Defense.
Dr. Merle Pierson, Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, USDA, is
the Committee Chair, Dr. Robert E. Brackett, Director of Food and Drug
Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN),
is the Vice-Chair, and Gerri Ransom, FSIS, is the Executive
Secretariat.
At the meetings the week of August 24-27, 2004, the Committee will
discuss:
Continuing work on performance standards for ground
chicken/ground turkey;
Continuing work on the scientific basis for establishing
safety-based ``use by'' date labeling for refrigerated ready-to-eat
foods; and
Continuing work on the scientific criteria for redefining
pasteurization.
Persons requiring a sign language interpreter or other special
accommodations should notify Ms. Thomas by August 17, 2004.
Availability of Advisory Committee Materials
FSIS intends to make available to the public all materials that are
reviewed and considered by NACMCF regarding its deliberations.
Generally, these materials will be made available as soon as possible
after the full committee meeting. Further, FSIS intends to make these
materials available in both electronic formats on the FSIS Web page, as
well as in hard copy format in the Docket Room. Often, an attempt is
made to make the materials available at the start of the full committee
meeting when sufficient time is allowed in advance to do so.
All documents related to full committee meetings will be available
for inspection in the FSIS Docket Room between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, as soon as they become available. All comments
submitted in response to this notice, as well as research and
background information used by FSIS in developing this document, will
be available for public inspection in the FSIS Docket Room at the
address listed above between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday. The comments also will be posted on the Agency's Web site at
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FRDockets.htm.
See the disclaimer section below regarding modifications that may
be necessary due to the presentation of the comments. The NACMCF
documents also will be available on the Internet at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FRDockets.htm
.
FSIS will finalize an agenda on or before the meeting dates and
post it on the FSIS Internet Web page at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FRDockets.htm
.
Also, the official transcripts of the August 2004 full committee
meeting, when they become available, will be kept in the FSIS Docket
Room at the above address and also will be posted on http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPHS/NACMCF/transcripts
.
Disclaimer
For electronic copies, all NACMCF documents and comments are
electronic conversions from a variety of source formats into HTML that
may have resulted in character translation or format errors. Readers
are cautioned not to rely on this HTML document. Minor changes to
materials in electronic format may be necessary in order to meet the
electronic and information technology accessibility standards contained
in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act in which graphs, charts, and
tables must be accompanied by a text descriptor in order for the
vision-impaired to be made aware of the content. FSIS will add these
text descriptors along with a qualifier that the text is a simplified
[[Page 50159]]
interpretation of the graph, chart, or table. Portable Document Format
(PDF) and/or paper documents of the official text, figures, and tables
can be obtained from the FSIS Docket Room.
Copyrighted documents will not be posted on the FSIS Web site, but
will be available for inspection in the FSIS docket room.
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.
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, recalls, 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.
Done in Washington, DC on August 9, 2004.
Barbara J. Masters,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 04-18501 Filed 8-12-04; 8:45 am]
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