[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 209 (Friday, October 27, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64418-64419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-27617]


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 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
 and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
 statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 209 / Friday, October 27, 2000 / 
Notices  

[[Page 64418]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. 00-044N]


Codex Alimentarius: Meetings of the Codex Committee on Food 
Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meetings, request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration 
(FDA), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), are 
sponsoring two public meetings, on November 7 and November 21, 2000, to 
provide information and receive public comments on agenda items that 
will be discussed at the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export 
Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS), which will be held in 
Perth, Australia, on December 11-15, 2000. The Under Secretary and FDA 
recognize the importance of of CCFICS and to address items on the 
Agenda. providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain 
background information on the Seventh Session

DATES: The public meetings are scheduled for Friday, November 7, 2000 
from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Tuesday, November 21, 2000 from 1:00 
p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meetings will be held in Conference Room 1409, 
Federal Office Building 8, Food and Drug Administration, 200 C Street, 
SW., Washington, DC. Submit one original and two copies of written 
comments to the FSIS Docket Room, Docket # 00-044N, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Room 102, Cotton 
Annex, 300 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20250-3700. To receive 
copies of the documents referenced in this notice, contact the FSIS 
Docket Room at the above address. The documents will also be accessible 
via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/ECONOMIC/esn/codex/ccfics9/fc00_01e.htm.
    All comments received in response to this notice will be considered 
part of the public record and will be available for viewing in the 
Docket Room between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick J. Clerkin, Associate U.S. 
Manager for Codex, U.S. Codex Office, FSIS, Room 4861, South Building, 
1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-3700, telephone 
(202) 205-7760; Fax: (202) 720-3157. Persons requiring a sign language 
interpreter or other special accommodations should notify Mr. Patrick 
J. Clerkin at the above phone number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) was established in 1962 
by two United Nations organizations, the Food and Agriculture 
Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Codex is 
the major international organization for encouraging fair international 
trade in food and protecting the health and economic interests of 
consumers. 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 ensure that 
the world's food supply is sound, wholesome, free from adulteration, 
and correctly labeled.
    CCFICS was established to develop principles and guidelines for: 
Food import and export inspection and certification systems, the 
application of measures by competent authorities of importing and 
exporting countries to provide assurance that foods comply with 
essential requirements, the utilization of quality assurance systems, 
and the format and content of official certificates.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following issues and referenced documents will be discussed 
during the public meetings:

 Matters Referred from Other Codex Committees, DOCUMENT CX/FICS 
00/2
 Draft Guidelines for Generic Official Certificate Formats and 
the Production and Issuance of Certificates, Comments at Step 6, 
DOCUMENT CX/FICS 00/3, DOCUMENT CX/FICS 00/3-Add.1
 Proposed Draft Guidelines for Food Import Control Systems, 
Comments at Step 3, DOCUMENT CX/FICS 00/4, DOCUMENT CX/FICS 00/4-Add.1
 Proposed Draft Guidelines for the Utilization and Promotion of 
Quality Assurance Systems to Meet Requirements in Relation to Food, 
Comments at Step 3, DOCUMENT CX/FICS 00/5, DOCUMENT CX/FICS 00/5-Add.1
 Proposed Draft Guidelines on the Judgement of Equivalence of 
Sanitary Measures Associated with Food Inspection and Certification 
Systems, Comments at Step 3, DOCUMENT CX/FICS 00/6, DOCUMENT CX/FICS 
00/6-Add.1
 Proposed Draft Guidelines on the Judgement of Equivalence of 
Technical Regulations Associated with Food Inspection and Certification 
Systems, Comments at Step 3, DOCUMENT CX/FICS 00/7, DOCUMENT CX/FICS 
00/7-Add.1
 Discussion Paper on Risk Management Guidelines for Food 
Control Emergency Situations Involving International Trade, DOCUMENT 
CX/FICS 00/8
 Discussion Paper on Food Export Control Systems, DOCUMENT CX/
FICS 00/9
    In advance of the meetings, the U.S. Delegate to CCFICS will have 
assigned responsibility for development of U.S. positions on these 
issues to members of the U.S. government. The individuals assigned 
responsibility will be named at the meetings and will take comments and 
develop draft U.S. positions. All interested parties are invited to 
provide information and comments on the above issues, or on any other 
issues that may be brought before CCFICS.

[[Page 64419]]

Public Meetings

    At the November 3rd public meeting, the issues will be described 
and discussed, and attendees will have the opportunity to pose 
questions and offer comments. At the November 21 public meeting, draft 
United States positions on the issues will be described and discussed, 
and attendees will have the opportunity to pose questions and offer 
comments.
    Please state that your comments relate to CCFICS activities and 
specify which issues your comments address.

Additional Public Notification

    Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy 
development is important. Consequently, in an effort to better ensure 
that minorities, women, and persons with disabilities are aware of this 
notice, FSIS will announce it and provide copies of this Federal 
Register publication in the FSIS Constituent Update. FSIS provides a 
weekly FSIS Constituent Update, which is communicated via fax to over 
300 organizations and individuals. In addition, the update is available 
on-line through the FSIS web page located at http://www.fsis.usda.gov. 
The update is used to provide information regarding FSIS policies, 
procedures, regulations, Federal Register notices, FSIS public 
meetings, recalls, and any other types of information that could effect 
or would be of interest to our constituents/stakeholders. The 
constituent fax list consists of industry, trade, farm, and consumer 
interest groups, allied health professionals and scientific 
professionals, and other individuals that have requested to be 
included. Through these various channels, FSIS is able to provide 
information to a much broader, more diverse audience. For more 
information and to be added to the constituent fax list, fax your 
request to the FSIS Congressional and Public Affairs Office, at (202) 
720-5704.

    Done at Washington, DC on: October 23, 2000.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex.
[FR Doc. 00-27617 Filed 10-26-00; 8:45 am]
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