[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 66 (Thursday, April 6, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17384-17385]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-5013]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
 
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 

  Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 66 / Thursday, April 6, 2006 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 17384]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

9 CFR Part 390

[Docket No. FSIS-2006-0009]


Public Meeting To Discuss the Proposed Rule on the Availability 
of Lists of Retail Consignees During Meat or Poultry Product Recalls

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) will hold a 
public meeting to solicit comments on its proposal to make available to 
the public lists of the retail consignees of meat and poultry products 
that have voluntarily been recalled by a federally inspected meat or 
poultry establishment if product has been distributed to the retail 
level. FSIS has proposed to routinely post these retail consignee lists 
on its Web site as they are developed by the Agency during its recall 
verification activities.
    There will be a five-minute time limit for each commenter who 
presents at the meeting.

DATES: The public meeting will be held on April 24, 2006, from 9:30 
a.m. to 12 p.m. Registration for the meeting will begin at 9 a.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will take place in the conference room at 
the south end of the U.S. Department of Agriculture cafeteria located 
in the South Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, 
20250. Meeting attendees must enter the South Building at Wing 2, C 
Street, SW.
    FSIS will finalize an agenda on or before the meeting date and will 
post it on the FSIS Internet Web page http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News/Meetings_&_Events/. Interested persons may submit comments on this 
notice. Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: This Web site provides the 
ability to type short comments directly into the comment field on this 
Web page or attach a file for lengthier comments. Go to http://www.regulations.gov and, in the ``Search for Open Regulations'' box, 
select ``Food Safety and Inspection Service'' from the agency drop-down 
menu, and then click on ``Submit.'' In the Docket ID column, select 
FDMS Docket Number FSIS-2006-0009 to submit or view public comments and 
to view supporting and related materials available electronically. This 
docket can be viewed using the ``Advanced Search'' function in 
Regulations.gov.
     Mail, including floppy disks or CD-ROM's, and hand- or 
courier-delivered items: Send to Docket Clerk, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, 300 12th Street, SW., 
Room 102 Cotton Annex, Washington, DC 20250.
     Electronic mail: [email protected].
    All submissions received by mail and electronic mail must include 
the Agency name and docket number FSIS-2006-0009. 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 to the regulations.gov Web site and on the Agency's Web site 
at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations_&_policies/2006_Notices_Index/index.asp.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victoria A. Levine, Program Analyst, 
Regulations and Petitions Policy Staff, Office of Policy, Program, and 
Employee Development, Room 112, Cotton Annex, 300 12th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20250-3700; Telephone (202) 720-5627, e-mail 
[email protected]. Pre-registration for this meeting is 
required. To pre-register, please contact Diane Jones at (202) 720-9692 
or by e-mail at [email protected]. Persons requiring a sign 
language interpreter or special accommodations should contact Ms. Jones 
as soon as possible.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 7, 2006, FSIS published in the 
Federal Register a proposed rule titled Availability of Lists of Retail 
Consignees During Meat or Poultry Product Recalls (71 FR 11326). In the 
preamble to the proposed rule, FSIS indicated that it would hold a 
public meeting to solicit comments on the issue raised in the proposal. 
Therefore, FSIS is holding this public meeting to solicit comment on 
FSIS' proposal to amend the federal meat and poultry products 
inspection regulations to provide that the Agency will make available 
to the public lists of the retail consignees of meat and poultry 
products that have been voluntarily recalled by a federally inspected 
meat or poultry products establishment if product has been distributed 
to the retail level. FSIS has proposed to routinely post these retail 
consignee lists on its website as they are developed by the Agency 
during its recall verification activities.
    FSIS proposed this action because it believes that the efficiency 
of recalls will be improved if there is more information available as 
to where products that have been recalled were sold. By providing 
consumers this information, FSIS believes that consumers will be more 
likely to identify and return such products to those locations or to 
dispose of them. This action will apply only to meat and poultry 
products.

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 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_&_policies/2006_Notices_Index/index.asp.
    The Regulations.gov website is the central online rulemaking portal 
of the United States government. It is being offered as a public 
service to increase participation in the Federal government's 
regulatory activities. FSIS participates in Regulations.gov and will 
accept comments on documents published on the site. The site allows 
visitors to search by keyword or Department or Agency for rulemakings 
that allow for public comment. Each entry provides a quick link to a 
comment form so that visitors can type in their comments and submit 
them to FSIS. The website is located at http://www.regulations.gov.

[[Page 17385]]

    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 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 also 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 in Washington, DC: April 3, 2006.
Barbara J. Masters,
Administrator.
 [FR Doc. E6-5013 Filed 4-5-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P