Edited January 2025.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, FSIS is announcing that the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) will hold a virtual public meeting on June 24, 2024. The Committee will provide updates on FSIS' Genomics charge and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Cronobacter spp. in Powdered Infant Formula charge.

Dates

The full Committee will hold a virtual public plenary meeting on Monday, June 24, 2024, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST. Attendance is free but pre-registration by Wednesday, June 19, 2024, is requested.

The deadline to submit written comments is Wednesday, June 19, 2024.

Addresses

The plenary meeting will be held virtually using Webex. Attendees must pre-register at https://events.intellor.com/?do=register&t=7&p=508211 to receive a join link, dial-in number, access code, and unique Attendee ID for the plenary meeting. Persons interested in providing oral comments at the Monday, June 24, 2024, plenary meeting should indicate so when registering. Oral comments will be limited to three minutes per speaker.

An American Sign Language interpreter will be present online during the meeting and attendees will also have the option to turn on closed captions.

For more information on the NACMCF charges, visit: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/policy/advisory-committees/national-advisory-committee-microbiological-criteria-foods-nacmcf.

Written comments may be submitted by one of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: This website provides the ability to type short comments directly into the comment field on the web page or attach a file for lengthier comments. Go to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions at that site for submitting comments.
• Mail: Send to Docket Clerk, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Mailstop 3758, Washington, DC 20250-3700.
• Hand- or Courier-Delivered Submittals: Deliver to 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Jamie L. Whitten Building, Room 350-E, Washington, DC 20250-3700.

Instructions: All items submitted by mail or electronic mail must include the agency name and docket number FSIS-2024-0011. Comments made in response to the docket will be made available for public inspection and posted without change, including any personal information, to https://www.regulations.gov.

Docket: For access to background documents or comments received, call 202-720-5046 to schedule a time to visit the FSIS Docket Room at 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250.

Agenda: FSIS will finalize an agenda on or before the meeting date and post it on the FSIS web page at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/news-events/events-meetings. Please note that the meeting agenda is subject to change; thus, sessions could end earlier or later than anticipated. Please plan accordingly if you would like to attend this meeting or participate in the oral public comment period.

The official transcript of the June 24, 2024, plenary meeting, when it becomes available, will be posted on FSIS' website at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/news-events/events-meetings.

For Further Information Contact

Kristal Southern, USDA, FSIS, Office of Public Health Science, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Room 1128, Washington, DC 20250; Email: NACMCF@usda.gov; Telephone: 202-578-4756.

Supplementary Information

Background

The NACMCF was established in 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 at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/policy/advisory-committees/national-advisory-committee-microbiological-criteria-foods-nacmcf. The NACMCF provides impartial 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 scientific advice and recommendations to the Departments of Commerce and Defense. The Committee reports to the Secretary of Agriculture through the Under Secretary for Food Safety, the Committee's Chair, and to the Secretary of Health and Human Services through the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Committee's Vice-Chair. Currently, Dr. Emilio Esteban, Under Secretary for Food Safety, USDA, is the Committee Chair; Dr. Donald Prater, Acting Director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), is the Vice-Chair; and Dr. Kristal Southern, USDA FSIS, is the Director of the NACMCF Executive Secretariat and Designated Federal Officer.

NACMCF documents and comments posted on the FSIS website are electronic conversions from a variety of source formats. In some cases, document conversion may result in character translation or formatting errors. The original document is the official, legal copy. To meet the electronic and information technology accessibility standards in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, NACMCF may add alternate text descriptors for non-text elements (graphs, charts, tables, multimedia, etc.). These modifications only affect the internet copies of the documents. Copyrighted documents will not be posted on FSIS' website 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, FSIS will announce this Federal Register publication online through the FSIS web page located at: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/federal-register. FSIS also will make copies of this 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 Constituent Update is available on the FSIS web page.  In addition, FSIS offers an email subscription service which provides automatic and customized access to selected food safety news and information. This service is available at: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/subscribe. Options range from recalls to export information, regulations, directives, and notices. Customers can add or delete subscriptions themselves and have the option to password protect their accounts.

Dated: May 16, 2024.

Cikena Reid,

USDA Committee Management Officer.

[FR Doc. 2024-11222 Filed 5-21-24; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P