E6-18689. Codex Alimentarius Commission: Meeting of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene

AGENCY:

Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, USDA.

ACTION:

Notice of public meeting and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), are sponsoring a public meeting on November 9, 2006. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft United States positions that will be discussed at the Thirty-eighth Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held in Houston, Texas, from December 4-9, 2006. The Under Secretary for Food Safety and FDA recognize the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 38th Session of CCFH and to address items on the agenda.

DATES:

The public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 9, 2006 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

ADDRESSES:

The public meeting will be held in the rear of the Cafeteria, South Agriculture Building, United States Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250. Documents related to the 38th Session of the CCFH will be accessible via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/​current.asp.

The U.S. Delegate to the CCFH, Dr. Robert Buchanan of FDA, invites U.S. interested parties to submit their comments electronically to the following e-mail address ([e-mail]).

Registration:

There is no need to pre-register for this meeting. To gain admittance to this meeting, individuals must present a photo ID for identification. When arriving for the meeting, please enter the South Building through the First Wing entrance on Independence Avenue.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For Further Information About the 38th Session of the CCFH Contact: Rebecca Buckner, Alternate to the U.S. Delegate to the CCFH, FDA, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Harvey W. Wiley Federal Building, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740-3835, Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]. E-mail: [e-mail].

For Further Information About the Public Meeting Contact: Amjad Ali, International Issues Analyst, U.S. Codex Office, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Room 4861, South Building, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250, Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Codex Alimentarius (Codex) was established in 1963 by two United Nations organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization. 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 Codex Committee on Food Hygiene was established to elaborate codes, standards and related texts for food hygiene. The Committee is hosted by the United States.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

The following items on the Agenda for the 38th Session of the Committee will be discussed during the public meeting:

• Matters referred to the Committee from the other Codex bodies.
• Draft Principles and Guidelines for the Conduct of Microbiological Risk Management and its Annexes.
• Draft Revision of the Code of Hygienic Practice for Egg Products and its Annex.
• Draft Guidelines on the Application of General Principles of Food Hygiene to the Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-to-Eat Foods.
• Proposed Draft Code of Hygienic Practice for Powdered Formulae for Infants and Young Children.
• Proposed Draft Guidelines for the Validation of Food Hygiene Control Measures.
• Management of the Work of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene.

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 or request copies of these documents (see ADDRESSES).

Public Meeting

At the November 9, 2006 public meeting, draft U.S. positions on the agenda items will be described, 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 38th Session of CCFH, Dr. Robert Buchanan (see ADDRESSES). Written comments should state that they relate to activities of the 38th Session of the CCFH.

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 on-line through the FSIS Web page located at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/​regulations/​2006_​Notices_​Index/​. 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 constituents and stakeholders. The update is communicated via Listserv, a free electronic mail subscription service for industry, trade and farm groups, consumer interest groups, allied health professionals, and other individuals who have asked to be included. The update is available on the FSIS Web page. Through the Listserv and Web page, FSIS is able to provide information to a much broader and 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_​and_​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 account.

Done at Washington, DC on November 1, 2006.

F. Edward Scarbrough,

U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.