[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 74 (Wednesday, April 17, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18855-18856]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-9361]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. 02-012N]


Codex Alimentarius Commission: Meeting of the Codex ad hoc 
Intergovernmental Task Force on Animal Feeding

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

ACTION: Notice of public meeting, request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, United 
States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Center for Veterinary 
Medicine (CVM), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are 
sponsoring a public meeting on Tuesday June 4, 2002, to provide 
information and receive public comments on agenda items that will be 
discussed at the Second Session of the Codex ad hoc Intergovernmental 
Task Force on Animal Feeding, which will be held in Copenhagen, 
Denmark, June 17-20, 2002. The Under Secretary and the Director of CVM 
recognize the importance of providing interested parties the 
opportunity to obtain information about the Intergovernmental Task 
Force on Animal Feeding of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and to 
address items on the Agenda for the 3rd Session of the Task Force.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 4, 2002, from 
9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in Room 0161 South 
Agricultural Building, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 
Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250 (Metro Stop: Smithsonian 
on the blue and orange line). To receive copies of the documents 
referenced in the notice contact the FSIS Docket Room, U.S. Department 
of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Room 102, Cotton 
Annex, 300 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20250-3700. The documents 
will also be accessible via the World Wide Web at the following 
address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net under Provisional Agendas. If 
you have comments, please send an original and two copies to the FSIS 
Docket Room and reference Docket #02-012N and the

[[Page 18856]]

document number. All comments submitted will be available for public 
inspection in the FSIS Docket Room between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., 
Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edith Kennard, Staff Officer, U.S. 
Codex Office, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Room 4861, South 
Building, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250, Phone: 
(202) 205-7760, Fax: (202) 720-3157. Persons requiring a sign language 
interpreter or other special accommodations should notify Edith Kennard 
at the above telephone number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Codex Alimentarius Commission 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. In the United States, USDA, FDA, and EPA manage and 
carry out U.S. Codex.
    The Codex ad hoc Intergovernmental Codex Task Force on Animal 
Feeding was established by the 23rd Session of the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission to develop Guidelines or Standards as appropriate on Good 
Animal Feeding practices with the aim of ensuring safety and quality of 
foods of animal origin. The ad hoc Task Force is chaired by Denmark.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    Provisional agenda items to be discussed during the public meeting:
--Additional Information on lists established by different governments 
to control the use of prohibited and undesirable substances in animal 
feedingstuffs or other approaches
--Information paper on Establishment of Codex maximum levels and 
residue limits for feedingstuffs and foods
--Consideration of the Revised Draft Code of Practice on Good Animal 
Feeding
--Consideration of Section 6 ``On-Farm Production and Use of 
Feedingstuffs''

Public Meeting

    At the June 4th public meeting, the agenda items will be described, 
discussed, and attendees will have the opportunity to pose questions 
and offer comments. Comments may be sent to the FSIS Docket Room (see 
ADDRESSES). Written comments should state that they relate to 
activities of the 3rd ad hoc Task Force on Animal Feeding.

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 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, 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.

    Done at Washington, DC, on: April 10, 2002.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 02-9361 Filed 4-16-02; 8:45 am]
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