[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