[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 187 (Thursday, September 26, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59336-59337]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-23503]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. FSIS-2013-0031]
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.
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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 (HHS), are
sponsoring a public meeting on October 23, 2013. 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 Forty-fifth Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene
(CCFH) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held
in Ha Noi, Vietnam, from November 11-15, 2013. The Under Secretary for
Food Safety and the FDA recognize the importance of providing
interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on
the 45th Session of CCFH and to address items on the agenda.
DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for October 23, 2013 from 1:00
p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will take place in the Jamie L. Whitten
Building, United States Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence
Avenue SW., Room 107-A, Washington, DC 20250.
Documents related to the 45th Session of the CCFH will be
accessible via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.org/meetings-reports/en/.
Jenny Scott, U.S. Delegate to the CCFH, invites U.S. interested
parties to submit their comments electronically to the following email
address [email protected].
Call-In Number:
If you wish to participate in the public meeting for the 45th
session of the CCFH by conference call, 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: For further information about the 45th
Session on the CCFH contact: Jenny Scott, Senior Advisor, Office of
Food Safety, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food
and Drug Administration, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, HFS-300, Room 3B-
014, College Park, MD 20740-3835; Telephone: (240) 402-2166, Fax: (202)
436-2632, Email: [email protected].
For further information about the public meeting contact: Barbara
McNiff, U.S. Codex Office, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Room 4861,
South Building, Washington, DC, 20250; Telephone: (202)690-4719, Fax:
(202) 720-3157, Email: [email protected].
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 fair
practices in the food trade.
The Codex Committee on Food Hygiene is responsible for:
(a) Drafting basic provisions on food hygiene applicable to all
food;
(b) Considering, amending if necessary, and endorsing provisions on
hygiene prepared by Codex commodity committees and contained in Codex
commodity standards;
(c) Considering, amending if necessary, and endorsing provisions on
hygiene prepared by Codex commodity committees and contained in Codex
codes of practice unless, in specific cases, the Commission has decided
otherwise
(d) Drafting provisions on hygiene applicable to specific food
items or food groups, whether coming within the terms of reference of a
Codex commodity committee or not;
(e) Considering specific hygiene problems assigned to it by the
Commission;
(f) Suggesting and prioritizing areas where there is a need for
microbiological risk assessment at the international level and to
develop questions to be addressed by the risk assessors; and
[[Page 59337]]
(g) Considering microbiological risk management matters in relation
to food hygiene, including food irradiation, and in relation to the
risk assessment of FAO/WHO.
The CCFH is hosted by the United States.
Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting
The following items on the Agenda for the 45th Session of the CCFH
will be discussed during the public meeting:
Matters Referred by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and/or
Other Codex Committees and Task Forces to the Food Hygiene Committee
Matters arising from the Work of FAO, WHO and other
International Intergovernmental Organizations
(a) Progress Report on the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on
Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) and Related Matters
(b) Information from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)
Proposed Draft Guidelines for Control of Specific Zoonotic
Parasites in Meat: Trichinella spiralis and Cysticercus bovis at Step 4
Proposed Draft Revision of the Code of Hygienic Practice for
Spices and Dried Aromatic Plants at Step 4
Proposed Code of Practice for Low Moisture Foods at Step 4
Discussion paper on occurrence and control of parasites
Discussion paper on the need to revise the Code of Hygienic
Practice for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Other Business and Future Work
(a) Forward Work plan and criteria for evaluating and prioritizing
new work
(b) New Work
Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed,
or to be distributed, by the Codex Secretariat prior to the Committee
meeting. Members of the public may access or request copies of these
documents (see ADDRESSES).
Public Meeting
At the October 23, 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 the U.S. Delegate for
the 45th Session of the CCFH, Jenny Scott (see ADDRESSES). Written
comments should state that they relate to activities of the 45th
Session of the CCFH.
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.
Additional Public Notification
FSIS will announce this notice online through the FSIS Web page
located at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/regulations/federal-register.
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/wps/portal/fsis/programs-and-services/email-subscription-service.
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 September 20, 2013.
Mary Frances Lowe,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 2013-23503 Filed 9-25-13; 8:45 am]
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