[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 157 (Tuesday, August 15, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46889-46891]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-13361]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2006-0022]


Codex Alimentarius Commission: Meeting of the Codex Committee on 
Fish and Fishery Products

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), and the Food and Drug Administration 
(FDA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, are sponsoring a 
public meeting on September 6, 2006. 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 Committee on Fish and Fishery Products 
(CCFFP) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be 
held in Beijing, China from September 18-22, 2006. The Under Secretary 
for Food Safety and FDA recognize the importance of providing 
interested parties with the opportunity to obtain background 
information on the 28th Session of the CCFFP and to address items on 
the agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 6, 2006 
from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in room 3B-047, of the 
Harvey Wiley Federal Building, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, 
Maryland 20740. Documents related to the 28th Session of the CCFFP will 
be accessible via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.
    The Food Safety and Inspection Service (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. FSIS prefers to receive comments 
through the Federal eRulemaking Portal.

[[Page 46890]]

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-2006-0022 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 Docket Clerk, USDA, FSIS, 300 12th Street, 
SW., Room 102 Cotton Annex Building, Washington, DC 20250-3700.
    Electronic mail: [email protected].
    All submissions received must include the Agency name and docket 
number FSIS-2006-0022.
    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.
    In addition, the U.S. Delegate to the CCFFP, Mr. Philip Spiller of 
FDA, invites U.S. interested parties to submit their comments 
electronically to the following e-mail address: 
[email protected].
    Pre-Registration: To gain admittance to this meeting, individuals 
must present a photo ID for identification and also are required to 
pre-register. In addition, no cameras or videotaping equipment will be 
permitted in the meeting room. To pre-register, please send the 
following information to this e-mail address--
[email protected] by September 5, 2006:

--Your Name,
--Organization,
--Mailing Address,
--Phone number,
--E-mail address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE 28th SESSION OF THE CCFFP CONTACT: 
Melissa Ellwanger, Assistant to the U.S. Delegate to the CCFFP, FDA, 
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Harvey W. Wiley Federal 
Building, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740-3835; 
Phone: (301) 436-1401; Fax: (301) 436-2549. E-mail: 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PUBLIC MEETING CONTACT: Amjad Ali, 
International Issues Analyst, U.S. Codex Office, FSIS, Room 4861, South 
Building, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250; Phone: 
(202) 205-7760; Fax: (202) 720-3157.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Codex Alimentarius (Codex) was established in 1963 by two 
United Nations organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization and 
the World Health Organization. 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 protect the health of 
consumers and ensure fair practices in trade.
    The Codex Committee on Fish and Fishery Products was established to 
elaborate codes, standards and related texts for fish and fishery 
products. The Committee is hosted by Norway.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following items on the Agenda for the 28th Session of the 
Committee will be discussed during the public meeting:
     Matters referred to the Committee from the other Codex 
bodies.
     Proposed Draft Amendment to the Standard for Canned 
Sardine and Sardine Type Products: Clupea bentincki.
     Draft Standard for Sturgeon Caviar.
     Proposed Draft Code of Practice for Fish and Fishery 
Products (sections 2 Definitions, 7 Live and [Raw] Bivalve Molluscs, 10 
Quick Frozen Fish and Fishery Products (sections on Molluscan Shellfish 
and Coated Shrimp only), 11 Processing of Salted Fish, 12 Processing of 
Smoked Fish, 13 Processing of Lobsters & Crabs).
     Proposed Draft Standard for Live and Raw Bivalve Molluscs.
     Proposed Draft Standard for Quick Frozen Scallop Adductor 
Muscle Meat.
     Proposed Draft Standard for Smoked Fish.
     Proposed Draft Code of Practice for the Processing of 
Scallop Meat.
     Discussion Paper on the Procedure for the Inclusion of 
Additional Species in Standards for Fish and Fishery Products.
     Discussion Paper on an Amendment to the Labeling Section 
in the Standard for Canned Sardines and Sardine-Type Products.
    Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed, 
or to be distributed, by the Norwegian Secretariat prior to the public 
meeting on September 6. Members of the public may access or request 
copies of these documents at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.

Public Meeting

    At the September 6th public meeting, draft U.S. positions on the 
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 28th 
Session of the CCFFP, Mr. Philip Spiller, at 
[email protected]. Written comments should state that they 
relate to activities of the 28th Session of the CCFFP.

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 e-mail subscription service which provides 
automatic and customized access to selected food safety news and 
information. This service is available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/news_and_events/email_subscription/. 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.


[[Page 46891]]


    Done at Washington, DC on: August 10, 2006.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
 [FR Doc. E6-13361 Filed 8-14-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P