[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 75 (Wednesday, April 19, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20070-20072]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-5876]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2006-0007]


Codex Alimentarius Commission: Meeting of the Codex Committee on 
Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods

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) and the Center for Veterinary 
Medicine (CVM), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are sponsoring a 
public meeting on Wednesday, April 26, 2006, to provide information and 
receive public comments on agenda items that will be discussed at the 
Sixteenth Session of the Codex Committee on Residues in Veterinary 
Drugs in Foods, which will be held in Cancun, Mexico, May 8-12, 2006. 
The Under Secretary and CVM recognize the importance of providing 
interested parties with information about the Codex Committee on 
Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) of the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission and to address items on the Agenda for the 16th 
Session of the Committee.

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DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 26, 2006, 
from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in Room 1160, South 
Agriculture Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 
20250. Documents related to the 16th Session of CCRVDF will be 
accessible via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net.
    FSIS invites interested persons to 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, then click on 
``Submit.'' In the Docket ID column, select the FDMS Docket Number 
FSIS-2006-0007 to submit or view public comments and to view supporting 
and related materials available electronically.
    Mail, including floppy disks or CD-ROM's, and hand- or courier-
delivered items: Send to FSIS Docket Room, Docket Clerk, USDA, Food 
Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), 300 12th Street, SW., Room 102, 
Cotton Annex Building, Washington, DC 20250.
    Electronic mail: [email protected].
    All submissions received must include the Agency name and docket 
number FSIS-2006-0007.
    All comments submitted in response to this notice, as well as 
research and background information used by FSIS in developing this 
document, will be posted to the regulations.gov Web site. The 
background information and comments also 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.
    For Further Information About the 16th Session of CCRVDF Contact: 
U.S. Delegate, Dr. Steven Vaughn, Director, Office of New Animal Drug 
Evaluation, Center for Veterinary Medicine, FDA, 7500 Standish Place, 
Rockville, MD 20855, Phone: (301) 827-1796, Fax: (301) 594-2297. E-
mail: [email protected].
    For Further Information About the Public Meeting Contact: Edith E. 
Kennard, Staff Officer, U.S. Codex Office, FSIS, Room 4861, South 
Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250, Phone: 
(202) 720-5261, Fax: (202) 720-3157, E-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) was established in 1963 
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 the 
Environmental Protection Agency manage and carry out U.S. Codex.
    The Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods was 
established in 1985 by the 16th Session of the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission to determine priorities for the consideration of residues of 
veterinary drugs in foods, to recommend maximum levels of such 
substances, to develop codes of practice as may be required, and to 
consider methods of sampling and analysis for the determination of 
veterinary drug residues in foods. The Committee is chaired by the 
United States.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following items on the agenda for the 16th Session of CCRVDF 
will be discussed during the public meeting:
     Draft Maximum Residue Limits for Veterinary Drugs at Steps 
7, 6, 4 and 3
     Proposed Draft Revised Guidelines for the Establishment of 
a Regulatory Program for the Control of Veterinary Drug Residues in 
Foods
     Proposed Draft Revised Part I, II, and III of the Codex 
Guidelines for the Establishment of a Regulatory Program for the 
Control of Veterinary Drug Residues in Foods
     Risk Management Methodologies, Including Risk Assessment 
Policies, in the Codex Committee of Veterinary Drugs in Foods
     Review of Performance-based Criteria for Methods of 
Analysis
     Consideration of the Priority List of Veterinary Drugs 
Requiring Evaluation or Re-evaluation
     Report of the Working Group on Residues of Veterinary 
Drugs without ADI/MRL
    Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed, 
or to be distributed, by the U.S. Secretariat to the Meeting. Members 
of the public may access or request copies of these documents via the 
World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net.

Public Meeting

    At the April 26, 2006 public meeting, draft U.S. positions on 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 16th 
Session of CCRVDF, Dr. Steven Vaughn, (see For Further Information 
About the 16th Session of CCRVDF Contact). Written comments should 
state that they relate to activities of the 16th Session of the CCRVDF.

Additional Public Notification

    Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy 
development is important. Consequently, in an effort to ensure that 
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/2006_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 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 and other 
individuals who have asked to be included. The update is available on 
the FSIS Web page. Through the Listserv and Web page, FSIS is able to 
provide information to a much broader and more diverse audience. In 
addition, FSIS offers an electronic mail subscription service that 
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-FAIM customers to sign 
up for subscription options in eight categories. Options range from 
recalls to export information to regulations, directives and notices. 
Customers can add or delete subscriptions themselves and

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have the option to protect their accounts with passwords.

    Done at Washington, DC on April 14, 2006.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. E6-5876 Filed 4-18-06; 8:45 am]
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