[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 249 (Friday, December 28, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67170-67171]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-31947]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. 01-042N]


Codex Alimentarius: 10th Session 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.

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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 January 8 and February 7, 2002, to 
provide information and receive public comments on agenda items that 
will be discussed at the Tenth Session of the Codex Committee on Food 
Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS), which 
will be held in Brisbane, Australia, February 25 to March 1, 2002. The 
Under Secretary and FDA recognize the importance of CCFICS, and the 
need to provide interested parties the opportunity to obtain background 
information and comment on the Tenth Session.

DATES: The public meetings are scheduled for Tuesday, January 8, 2002 
from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Thursday, February 7, 2002 from 1:00 
p.m. to 3:00 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 #01-042N, 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.codexalimentarius.net/ccfics10/fc02 01e.htm
    All comments received in response to this notice will be considered 
part of the public record 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:
    1. Adoption of the Agenda, DOCUMENT CX/FICS 02/1
    2. Matters Referred from the Codex Alimentarius Commission and 
Other Codex Committees, DOCUMENT CX/FICS 02/2
    3. Draft Guidelines for Food Import Control Systems--Comments at 
Step 6, DOCUMENT CL 2001/25-FICS; DOCUMENT ALINORM 01/30A, Appendix IV; 
DOCUMENT CX/FICS  02/3

[[Page 67171]]

    4. Draft Guidelines on the Judgement of Equivalence of Sanitary 
Measures Associated with Food Inspection and Certification Systems--
Comments at Step 6, DOCUMENT CL 2001/25-FICS; DOCUMENT ALINORM 01/30A, 
Appendix III; DOCUMENT CX/FICS 02/4
    5. 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 02/5; DOCUMENT CX/FICS 
02/5-Add.1
    6. 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 02/6; DOCUMENT CX/FICS 02/6-Add.1
    7. Proposed Draft Revision to the Codex Guidelines for the Exchange 
of Information in Food Control Emergency Situations--Comments at Step 
3, DOCUMENT CX/FICS 02/7; DOCUMENT CX/FICS 02/7-Add.1
    8. Other Business and Future Work. 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.

Public Meetings

    At the January 8th public meeting, the issues will be reviewed and 
comments will be received. At the February 7th public meeting, the 
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 the Federal 
Register publication in the FSIS Constituent Update. FSIS provides a 
weekly 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 meeting, 
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, and farm groups, consumer interest 
groups, allied health professionals, 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 Congressional and Public Affairs Office at 
(202) 720-5704.

F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 01-31947 Filed 12-27-01; 8:45 am]
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