[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 46 (Thursday, March 7, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 9100-9101]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-5441]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Food and Drug Administration
21 CFR Parts 123 and 1240
[Docket No. 93N-0195]
Procedures for the Safe and Sanitary Processing and Importing of
Fish and Fishery Products; Notice of Public Meetings
AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.
ACTION: Notice of public meetings.
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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that it
is sponsoring five public meetings that are intended to promote
understanding and implementation of FDA's final rule, titled
``Procedures for the Safe and Sanitary Processing and Importing of Fish
and Fishery Products,'' that published in the Federal Register on
December 18, 1995. That final rule requires that domestic seafood
processors and foreign processors who import seafood into the United
States establish hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) systems
to ensure the safety of their products. U.S. importers must take steps
to help verify that their foreign suppliers are operating such systems.
FDA is arranging these meetings in response to significant public
interest, both domestic and foreign, in the requirements of the
regulations, as well as in implementation strategies before its
effective date of December 18, 1997.
DATES: See Table 1 in the ``Supplementary Information'' section of this
document.
ADDRESSES: See Table 1 in the ``Supplementary Information'' section of
this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen D. Nesheim (or the local contact
person listed in Table 2 in the ``Supplementary Information'' section
of this document) Office of Seafood, Center for Food Safety and Applied
Nutrition (HFS-417), Food and Drug Administration, 200 C St. SW.,
Washington, DC 20204, 202-418-3175.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 18, 1995, the Department of
Health and Human Services published final regulations for the purpose
of further ensuring the safety of seafood for United States consumers.
The new regulations require that seafood processors use science-based,
state-of-the-art preventive controls known as HACCP, to keep unsafe
fish and fishery products from reaching consumers. The key components
of the system are identification of potential problems that could make
seafood hazardous; establishment and monitoring of targeted control
points to minimize identified safety hazards and risks; and keeping a
record of the results. HACCP recordkeeping will enable regulators to
monitor product safety more effectively. FDA is arranging these
meetings in response to significant public interest in the requirements
of the regulations and FDA's implementation plans and expectations.
The meetings will be held at the addresses and on the dates listed
below in Table 1.-
TABLE 1
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Meeting Address Date and Time
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The Hynes Convention Center rm. 100, 900 March 13, 1996 Wednesday 1 pm
Boylston St., Boston, MA. to 4:30 pm
Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel, 300 South March 20, 1996 Wednesday 1 pm
Charles St., Baltimore, MD. to 4:30 pm
Sheraton Grand Hotel--West Shore Ballroom March 28, 1996 Thursday 1 pm
East, 4860 Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, FL. to 4:30 pm
Canal Place Shopping Mall, 3d Floor in June 10, 1996 Monday 1 pm to
the Cinema, 100 Rue Iberville, New 4:30 pm
Orleans, LA.
Jackson Federal Building Auditorium, 915 June 13, 1996 Thursday 1 pm
2d Ave., North Seattle, WA. to 4:30 pm
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[[Page 9101]]
There is no charge to attend these meetings. Advance registration
is requested because seating is limited. The deadline for registering
is 1 week before each meeting. Late registration will be accepted on a
space available basis. Persons interested in attending should FAX,
mail, or telephone their name, organization, address, and telephone
number to the local contact person listed below in Table 2 for each
meeting location.
TABLE 2
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Meeting Location Contact Person
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Boston, MA............................... Sylvia Craven, New England
District Office (FDA), One
Montvale Ave., Stoneham, MA
02180, 617-279-1675 ext.
101; FAX: 617-279-1742.
Baltimore, MD............................ Alexander A. Ondis, Baltimore
District Office (FDA), 900
Madison Ave., Baltimore, MD
21201, 410-962-4052; FAX:
410-962-2307.
Tampa, FL................................ Frank R. Goodwin, Florida
District Office (FDA), 7200
Lake Ellenor Dr. Ste. 120,
Orlando, FL 32809, 407-648-
6997 ext. 221; FAX: 407-648-
6221
New Orleans, LA.......................... Leon L. Law, New Orleans
District Office (FDA), 4298
Elysian Fields Ave., New
Orleans, LA 70122, 504-589-
7183/6344 ext. 114; FAX: 504-
589-4365.
Seattle, WA.............................. Christopher Rezendes, Seattle
District Office (FDA), 1000
2d Ave., Suite 2400 Seattle,
WA 98104, 206-553-7001 ext.
21; FAX: 206-553-7020.
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Prior, less extensive, presentations by FDA of the seafood HACCP
regulations have been made at Aquaculture '96 and Bangkok Seafood Show,
Bangkok, Thailand, January 31, 1996; the 11th Indian Seafood Trade
Fair, Bombay, India, February 10, 1996; Aquaculture America, Arlington,
Texas, February 15, 1996; the Pacific Fisheries Technologists Annual
Meeting, San Diego, California, February 19, 1996; and the 4th Annual
Smoked Fish Conference, Seattle, WA, March 5, 1996.
Additional, less extensive, presentations by FDA are planned in
conjunction with the International Conference on Fish Inspection and
Quality Control, May 23, 1996, Arlington, VA. Other presentations may
be scheduled as time and resources permit.
Dated: March 4, 1996.
William K. Hubbard,
Associate Commissioner for Policy Coordination.
[FR Doc. 96-5441 Filed 3-4-96; 3:16 pm]
BILLING CODE 4160-01-F
