[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 104 (Wednesday, June 1, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31413-31414]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-10876]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. 05-022N]


Codex Alimentarius Commission: 28th Session of the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission

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

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (USDA) is sponsoring a public meeting on June 
9, 2005. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information 
and receive public comments on agenda items and draft United States' 
positions that will be discussed at the 28th Session of the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission (CAC) to be held in Rome, Italy, July 4-9, 
2005. The Under Secretary for Food Safety recognizes the importance of 
providing interested parties with the opportunity to obtain background 
information on the 28th Session of CAC and to address items on the 
agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 9, 2005, from 
1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in Room 107A, Whitten 
Building, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue, 
SW., Washington, DC. The Codex documents pertaining to the agenda items 
for the 28th CAC Session, are accessible via the World Wide Web at the 
following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp. To 
submit comments on this notice, please send them, to the FSIS Docket 
Clerk and reference Docket 05-022N. All comments submitted in 
response to this notice will be available for public inspection in the 
Docket Clerk's Office between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through 
Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: F. Edward Scarbrough, Ph.D., U.S. 
Manager for Codex, U.S. Codex Office, FSIS, Room 4861, South 
Agriculture Building, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 
20250, Telephone (202) 205-7760; Fax: (202) 720-3157; Electronic mail: 
[email protected]. Persons requiring a sign language 
interpreter or other special accommodations should notify Dr. 
Scarbrough at the above number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    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. In the 
United States, USDA, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) manage and carry out U.S. Codex 
activities.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department 
of Agriculture (USDA) is sponsoring a public meeting on June 9, 2005. 
The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and 
receive public comments on agenda items and draft United States' 
positions that will be discussed at the 28th Session of the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission (CAC) to be held in Rome, Italy, July 4-9, 
2005. The Under Secretary for Food Safety recognizes the importance of 
providing interested parties with the opportunity to obtain background 
information on the 28th Session of CAC and to address items on the 
agenda. The following items from the Draft Provisional Agenda for the 
28th Session of the CAC will be discussed at the public meeting:

(1) Procedural Matters
    (A) Amendments to the Procedural Manual
    (i) Amendments to the Rules of Procedure
    (ii) Other amendments to the Procedural Manual
(2) Codex Standards and Related Texts
    (A) Draft Standards and Related Texts at Step 8 of the Procedure 
(including those submitted at Step 5 with a recommendation to omit 
Steps 6 and 7 and those submitted at Step 5 of the Accelerated 
Procedure)
    (B) Proposed Draft Standards and Related Texts at Step 5
    (C) Withdrawal or Revocation of existing Codex Standards and 
Related Texts
    (D) Proposals for the Elaboration of new Standards and Related 
Texts and for the Discontinuation of Work
(3) Program and Budgetary Matters
    (A) Financial and Budgetary Matters--Proposed Budget 2006/2007
    (B) Strategic Planning of the Codex Alimentarius Commission
    (C) Proposed Schedule of Codex Meetings 2005-2007
(4) Policy and General Matters
    (A) Implementation of the Joint FAO/WHO Evaluation of the Codex 
Alimentarius and other FAO and WHO Work on Food Standards (including 
the Review of Codex Committee Structure and Mandates of Codex 
Committees and Task Forces)
    (B) Matters arising from the Reports of Codex Committees and 
Task Forces
    (C) Relations between the Codex Alimentarius Commission and 
other International Organizations
    (D) FAO/WHO Project and Trust Fund for Enhanced Participation in 
Codex
    (E) Other Matters arising from FAO and WHO
(5) Elections and Appointments
    (A) Appointment of Regional Coordinators
    (B) Election of Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons and Election 
of Members of the Executive Committee
    (C) Designation of Countries responsible for Appointing the 
Chairpersons of Codex Committees and Task Forces

    These issues and draft United States' positions on these issues 
will be described and discussed, and attendees will have the 
opportunity to pose questions and offer comments. Comments on the 
issues and draft positions should be mailed or sent electronically to 
the U.S. Codex Manager (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). Please 
state that your comments relate to CAC 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 ensure that the 
public and, in particular,

[[Page 31414]]

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/2005_Notices_Index/.
    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 meetings, 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 electronic mail subscription service for 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 electronic mail 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 
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    Customers can add or delete subscriptions themselves and have the 
option to protect their accounts with passwords.

    Done at Washington, DC, on May 26, 2005.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 05-10876 Filed 5-31-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P