[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 140 (Friday, July 20, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34537-34539]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-15594]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. FSIS-2018-0025]
National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
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SUMMARY: This notice is announcing that the National Advisory Committee
on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) will hold public
meetings of the full Committee and Subcommittees on August 7-10, 2018.
The Committee will discuss and adopt: (1) Effective Salmonella Control
Strategies for Poultry and (2) Virulence Factors and Attributes that
Define Foodborne Shiga Toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) as
Severe Human Pathogens. The Committee will also discuss two new
charges; the first charge is The Use of Water in Animal Slaughter and
Processing. Regulatory agencies such as FSIS must also be able to
provide supportable alternatives to current water consumption practices
that allow industry to potentially use less and recycle water through
developing criteria on the appropriate uses of varying water sources
and treatment technologies in the processing of meat, poultry, and egg
products. The second charge is Appropriate Product Testing Procedures
and Criteria to Verify Process Control for Microbial Pathogens or
appropriate indicator organisms in Ready-to-Eat (RTE) Foods under the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) jurisdiction.
DATES: The full Committee will hold an open meeting on Tuesday, August
7, 2018 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST. The Subcommittees on the Use
of Water in Animal Slaughter and Processing, and Appropriate Product
Testing Procedures and Criteria to Verify Process Control for Microbial
Pathogens or appropriate indicator organisms in Ready-to-Eat (RTE)
Foods under FDA's jurisdiction, will hold concurrent open Subcommittee
meetings on Tuesday, August 7, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Wednesday,
August 8, 2018; Thursday, August 9, 2018; and Friday, August 10,
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2018 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST., respectively.
ADDRESSES: The Committee meetings will be held at the Patriot's Plaza
3, 1st Floor Auditorium and Conference Rooms, 355 E Street SW,
Washington, DC 20250. Attendance is free. Attendees must show a valid
photo ID to enter the building. Attendees with non-government ID may be
required to pass through the security screening systems, please allow
adequate time for this process.
FSIS invites interested persons to submit comments on the FSIS-
2018-0025. 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 this
web page or attach a file for lengthier comments. Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions at that site for
submitting comments.
Mail, including CD-ROMs, etc.: Send to Docket Clerk, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Mailstop 3758, Room 6065, Washington, DC 20250-
3700.
Hand- or courier-delivered submittals: Deliver to 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, Washington, DC 20250-3700.
Instructions: All items submitted by mail or electronic mail must
include the Agency name and docket number FSIS-2018-0025. Comments
received in response to this docket will be made available for public
inspection and posted without change, including any personal
information, to http://www.regulations.gov.
Docket: For access to background documents or comments received,
call (202) 720-5627 to schedule a time to visit the FSIS Docket Room at
1400 Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, Washington, DC 20250-3700. All
documents related to the full Committee meeting will be available for
public inspection in the FSIS Docket Room The NACMCF documents will
also be available on the internet at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/regulations/federal-register/federal-register-notices.
FSIS will finalize an agenda on or before the meeting dates and
post it on the FSIS web page at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/newsroom/meetings. Please note that the meeting agenda is subject
to change due to the time required for Committee discussions; thus,
sessions could start or end earlier or later than anticipated. Please
plan accordingly if you would like to attend a particular session or
participate in a public comment period.
The official transcript of the August 7, 2018 full Committee
meeting, when it becomes available, will be kept in the FSIS Docket
Room at the above address and will also be posted on https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/data-collection-and-reports/nacmcf/meetings/nacmcf-meetings.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Persons interested in making a
presentation, submitting technical papers, or providing comments at the
August 7, plenary session should contact Karen Thomas: Phone: (202)
690-6620; Fax (202) 690-6334; Email: [email protected]
or at the mailing address: USDA, FSIS, Office of Public Health Science,
1400 Independence Avenue SW, Patriots Plaza 3, Mailstop 3777, Room 9-
47, Washington, DC 20250. Persons requiring a sign language interpreter
or other special accommodations should notify Ms. Thomas by July 30,
2018.
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 on the FSIS web page at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/data-collection-and-reports/nacmcf/committee-charter.
The NACMCF provides 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
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Departments of
Commerce and Defense. Questions from the Department of Agriculture and
Health and Human Services agencies that are sponsors of the Committee
are submitted as Charges to the Executive Committee for vetting and
approval before they are presented to the full Committee during the
plenary session. The Committee is expected to respond to the questions
during their two-year term.
Ms. Carmen Rottenberg, Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food
Safety, USDA, is the Committee Chair; Dr. Susan T. Mayne, Director of
the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied
Nutrition, is the Vice-Chair; and Dr. Mark Carter, FSIS, is the
Designated Federal Officer.
Documents Reviewed by NACMCF
FSIS will make all materials reviewed and considered by NACMCF
regarding its deliberations available to the public. Generally, these
materials will be made available as soon as possible after the full
Committee meeting. Further, FSIS intends to make these materials
available in electronic format on the FSIS web page
(www.fsis.usda.gov), as well as in hard copy format in the FSIS Docket
Room.
Disclaimer: 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 the 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:
http://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. Through the web page, FSIS is
able to provide information to a much broader, more diverse audience.
In addition, FSIS offers an email subscription service which provides
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automatic and customized access to selected food safety news and
information. This service is available at: http://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.
USDA Non-Discrimination Statement
No agency, officer, or employee of the USDA shall, on the grounds
of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual
orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status,
income derived from a public assistance program, or political beliefs,
exclude from participation in, deny the benefits of, or subject to
discrimination, any person in the United States under any program or
activity conducted by the USDA.
How To File a Complaint of Discrimination
To file a complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program
Discrimination Complaint Form, which may be accessed online at: http://www.ocio.usda.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2012/Complain_combined_6_8_12.pdf, or write a letter signed by you or your
authorized representative.
Send your completed complaint form or letter to USDA by mail, fax,
or email:
Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of
Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410.
Fax: (202) 690-7442.
Email: [email protected].
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for
communication (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.), should contact
USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).
Paul Kiecker,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2018-15594 Filed 7-19-18; 8:45 am]
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