[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 2, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5413-5414]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-1894]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. 04-050N]


Codex Alimentarius Commission: Twenty-sixth Session of the Codex 
Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, United 
States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA), United States Department of Health and Human 
Services, are sponsoring a public meeting on March 15, 2005, to provide 
information and receive public comments on agenda items that will be 
discussed at the Twenty-sixth Session of the Codex Committee on Methods 
of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission 
(Codex). The 26th Session of the CCMAS will be held in Budapest, 
Hungary, April 4-8, 2005. The Under Secretary and FDA recognize the 
importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain 
background information on the agenda items that will be discussed at 
this forthcoming session of the CCMAS.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 15, 2005 from 
10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in the Conference Room 1A 
002, Harvey W. Wiley Federal Building, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, 
College Park, MD. Documents related to the 26th Session of CCMAS will 
be accessible via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/index_en.asp.
    FSIS invites interested persons to submit comments on this notice. 
Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
     Mail, including floppy disks or CD-ROMs, and hand-or 
courier-delivered items: Send to the FSIS Docket Clerk, U.S. Department 
of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, 300 12th Street, 
SW., Room 102, Cotton Annex, Washington DC 20730. All Comments received 
must include the Agency name and docket number 04-050N.
    All comments submitted in response to this notice, will be 
available for public inspection in the FSIS Docket Room at the address 
listed above between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. 
The comments also will be posted on the Agency's Web site at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/2005_Notices_Index/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE 26TH SESSION OF THE CCMAS CONTACT: 
U.S. Delegate, Dr. Gregory Diachenko, Director, Division of Chemistry 
Research and Environmental Review, Center for Food Safety and Applied 
Nutrition, FDA, Harvey Wiley Federal Building, 5100 Paint Branch 
Parkway, College Park, Maryland 20740. Phone (301) 436-1898; Fax (301) 
436-2364, E-mail: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PUBLIC MEETING CONTACT: Syed Amjad 
Ali, International Issues Analyst, U. S. Codex Office, FSIS, Room 4861, 
South Agriculture Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, 
DC 20250-3700. Phone (202) 205-7760; Fax (202) 720-3157. Persons 
requiring a sign language interpreter or other special accommodations 
should notify Dr. Gregory Diachenko, Director, Division of Chemistry 
Research and Environmental Review, FDA, at telephone (301) 436-1898; 
Fax (301) 436-2364.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) was established in 1962 
by two United Nations organizations, the Food and Agriculture 
Organization and the World Health Organization. Codex is the major 
international standard-setting organization for protecting the health 
and economic interests of consumers and encouraging fair international 
trade in food. 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 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) manage and carry out U.S. 
Codex activities.
    The Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) 
performs multiple functions; defines criteria appropriate for Codex 
Methods of Analysis and Sampling; specifies reference methods of 
analysis and sampling; endorses methods of analysis and sampling 
proposed by Codex Committees; elaborates sampling plans; and considers 
specific sampling and analysis problems. The Committee is chaired by 
Hungary.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following items on the agenda for the 26th Session of CCMAS 
will be discussed during the public meeting:

1. Matters referred by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and other 
Codex Committees
2. Proposed Draft Guidelines for Evaluating Acceptable Methods of 
Analysis
3. Fitness-for-Purpose Approach (for inclusion in the Proposed Draft

[[Page 5414]]

Guidelines for Evaluating Acceptable Methods of Analysis)
4. Proposed Draft Guidelines for Settling Disputes on Analytical (Test) 
Results
5. Use of Analytical Results (For inclusion in the Procedural Manual)
6. Further Review of Analytical Terminology for Codex Use (For 
inclusion in the Procedural Manual)
7. Criteria for Methods of analysis for foods derived from 
biotechnology
8. Methods of analysis for dioxins and PCBs

    Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed, 
or to be distributed, by the Hungarian Secretariat to the Meeting. 
Members of the public may access copies of these documents http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/index_en.asp.

Public Meeting

    At the March 15, 2005 public meeting, these agenda items will be 
described, discussed, and attendees will have the opportunity to pose 
questions and offer comments. Written comments may be offered at the 
meeting or sent to the U.S. Delegate, for the 26th Session of the 
CCMAS, Dr. Gregory Diachenko (See ADDRESSES). Written comments should 
state that they relate to activities of the 26th Session of the CCMAS.

Additional Public Information

    Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy 
development is important. Consequently, in an effort to ensure that the 
public and in particular minorities, women, and persons with 
disabilities are aware of this notice, FSIS will announce it on-line 
through the FSIS Web page located at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/2005NoticesIndex/.
    FSIS also will make copies of this Federal Register publication 
available through the FSIS Constituent Update, which is used to provide 
information regarding FSIS policies, procedures, regulations, Federal 
Register notices, FSIS public meeting, recalls, and other types of 
information that could affect or would be of interest to our 
constituents and stakeholders. The update is communicated via Listserv, 
a free e-mail subscription service consisting of industry, trade, and 
farm groups, consumer interest groups, allied health professionals, 
scientific professionals, and other individuals who have requested to 
be included. The update is available on the FSIS web page. Through 
Listserv and 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 an automatic and customized notification when popular pages 
are updated, including Federal Register publications and related 
documents. This service is available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/news_and_events/email_subscription/ and allows FSIS customers to sign up 
for subscription options across eight categories. Options range from 
recalls to export information to regulations, directives and notices. 
Customers can add or delete subscriptions themselves and have the 
option to password protect their account.

    Done at Washington, DC on January 25, 2005.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 05-1894 Filed 2-1-05; 8:45 am]
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