[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 39 (Wednesday, February 27, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13313-13314]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-04471]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. FSIS-2013-0011]
Codex Alimentarius Commission: Meeting of the Codex Committee on
Contaminants in Foods
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), and the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, are sponsoring a
public meeting on March 12, 2013. The objective of the public meeting
is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items
and draft U.S. positions that will be discussed at the 7th Session of
the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF) of the Codex
Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held in Moscow, Russian
Federation, April 8-12, 2013. The Under Secretary for Food Safety and
FDA recognize the importance of providing interested parties the
opportunity to obtain background information on the 7th Session of the
CCCF and to address items on the agenda.
DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 12, 2013,
from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at the Harvey W. Wiley
Federal Building, Room 1A-001, FDA, Center for Food Safety and Applied
Nutrition (CFSAN), 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740.
Documents related to the 7th Session of the CCCF will be accessible via
the World Wide Web at http://www.codexalimentarius.org/meetings-reports/en/.
Nega Beru, U.S. Delegate to the 7th Session of the CCCF invites
interested U.S. parties to submit their comments electronically to the
following email address [email protected].
Registration: Attendees may register electronically at the same
email address provided above by March 8, 2013. The meeting will be held
in a Federal building; therefore, early registration is encouraged as
it will expedite entry into the building and its parking area. You
should also bring photo identification and plan for adequate time to
pass through security screening systems. If you require parking, please
include the vehicle make and tag number when you register. Attendees
that are not able to attend the meeting in-person but wish to
participate may do so by phone.
Call in Number: If you wish participate in the public meeting for
the 7th Session of CCCF by telephone conference, please use the call in
number and participant code listed below:
Call in Number: 1-888-858-2144.
Participant Code: 6208658.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Henry Kim, Ph.D., Office of Food
Safety, CFSAN/FDA, HFS-317, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD
20740, Telephone: (240) 402-2023, Fax: (301) 436-2632, email:
[email protected] or Barbara McNiff, U.S. Codex Office, 1400
Independence Avenue, Washington, DC; Telephone (202) 690-4719, email:
[email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PUBLIC MEETING CONTACT: Henry Kim,
Ph.D., Office of Food Safety, CFSAN/FDA, HFS-317, 5100 Paint Branch
Parkway, College Park, MD 20740, Telephone: (240) 402-2023, Fax: (301)
436-2632, email: [email protected].
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).
[[Page 13314]]
Through adoption of food standards, codes of practice, and other
guidelines developed by its committees, and by promoting adoption and
implementation by governments, Codex seeks to protect the health of
consumers and ensure that fair practices are used in the food trade.
The CCCF is responsible for:
(a) Establishing or endorsing permitted maximum levels, and where
necessary revising existing guideline levels for contaminants and
naturally occurring toxicants in food and feed;
(b) Preparing priority lists of contaminants and naturally
occurring toxicants for risk assessment by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert
Committee on Food Additives (JECFA);
(c) Considering and elaborating methods of analysis and sampling
for the determination of contaminants and naturally occurring toxicants
in food and feed;
(d) Considering and elaborating standards or codes of practice for
related subjects; and
(e) Considering other matters assigned to it by Codex in relation
to contaminants and naturally occurring toxicants in food and feed.
The Committee is chaired by The Netherlands.
Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting
The following items on the Agenda for the 7th Session of the CCCF
will be discussed during the public meeting:
Matters Referred to the CCCF by the Codex Alimentarius
Commission or its subsidiary bodies
Matters of Interest Arising from FAO and WHO (including JECFA)
Matters of Interest Arising from other International
Organizations
Proposed Draft Maximum Levels for Deoxynivalenol (DON) in
Cereals and Cereal-based Products and Associated Sampling Plans
Editorial Amendments to the General Standard for Contaminants
and Toxins in Foods and Feeds (GSCTFF)
Proposed Draft Code of Practice for Weed Control to Prevent
and Reduce Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid Contamination in Food and Feed
Proposed Draft Revision of Maximum Levels for Lead in selected
commodities in the General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food
and Feed
Proposed Draft Annex for Prevention and Reduction of
Aflatoxins and Ochratoxin A Contamination in Sorghum to the Code of
Practice for the Prevention and Reduction of Mycotoxin Contamination in
Cereals
Proposed Draft Code of Practice for the Prevention and
Reduction of Ochratoxin A contamination in Cocoa
Proposed Draft Code of Practice to Reduce the Presence of
Hydrocyanic Acid in Cassava and Cassava Products
Proposed Draft Maximum Levels for Hydrocyanic Acid in Cassava
and Cassava Products
Proposed Draft revision of the guideline levels for
radionuclides in food
Discussion paper on the development of a code of practice for
the prevention and reduction of arsenic contamination in Rice
Discussion paper on control measures for fumonisions in maize
and maize products
Discussion paper on management practices to reduce exposure of
food-producing animals (livestock and bees) to pyrrolizidine alkaloids;
and to reduce presence of Pyrroliaidine alkaloids in commodities (raw
and processed)
Discussion paper on the review of the guideline level for
methylmercury in fish and predatory fish
Discussion paper on aflatoxins in cereals
Priority List of Contaminants and Naturally Occurring
Toxicants proposed for evaluation by JECFA
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 March 12, 2013 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 Dr. Henry Kim for the 7th
Session of the CCCF (see ADDRESSES). Written comments should state that
they relate to activities of the 7th Session of the CCCF.
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 email 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.
USDA Nondiscrimination Statement
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (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.
Done at Washington, DC, on February 20, 2013.
Mary Frances Lowe,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 2013-04471 Filed 2-26-13; 8:45 am]
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