[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 214 (Monday, November 6, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64920-64921]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-18689]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2006-0037]


Codex Alimentarius Commission: Meeting of the Codex Committee on 
Food Hygiene

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 (HHS), are 
sponsoring a public meeting on November 9, 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 Thirty-eighth Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene 
(CCFH) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held 
in Houston, Texas, from December 4-9, 2006. The Under Secretary for 
Food Safety and FDA recognize the importance of providing interested 
parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 38th 
Session of CCFH and to address items on the agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 9, 2006 
from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in the rear of the 
Cafeteria, South Agriculture Building, United States Department of 
Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250. 
Documents related to the 38th Session of the CCFH will be accessible 
via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.
    The U.S. Delegate to the CCFH, Dr. Robert Buchanan of FDA, invites 
U.S. interested parties to submit their comments electronically to the 
following e-mail address ([email protected]).

Registration:

    There is no need to pre-register for this meeting. To gain 
admittance to this meeting, individuals must present a

[[Page 64921]]

photo ID for identification. When arriving for the meeting, please 
enter the South Building through the First Wing entrance on 
Independence Avenue.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
    For Further Information About the 38th Session of the CCFH Contact: 
Rebecca Buckner, Alternate to the U.S. Delegate to the CCFH, FDA, 
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Harvey W. Wiley Federal 
Building, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740-3835, 
Phone: (301) 436-1486, Fax: (301) 436-2668. E-mail: 
[email protected].
    For Further Information About the Public Meeting Contact: Amjad 
Ali, International Issues Analyst, U.S. Codex Office, Food Safety and 
Inspection Service, 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. 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 that fair 
practices are used in trade.
    The Codex Committee on Food Hygiene was established to elaborate 
codes, standards and related texts for food hygiene. The Committee is 
hosted by the United States.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following items on the Agenda for the 38th Session of the 
Committee will be discussed during the public meeting:
     Matters referred to the Committee from the other Codex 
bodies.
     Draft Principles and Guidelines for the Conduct of 
Microbiological Risk Management and its Annexes.
     Draft Revision of the Code of Hygienic Practice for Egg 
Products and its Annex.
     Draft Guidelines on the Application of General Principles 
of Food Hygiene to the Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-to-
Eat Foods.
     Proposed Draft Code of Hygienic Practice for Powdered 
Formulae for Infants and Young Children.
     Proposed Draft Guidelines for the Validation of Food 
Hygiene Control Measures.
     Management of the Work of the Codex Committee on Food 
Hygiene.
    Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed, 
or to be distributed, by the Secretariat prior to the Meeting. Members 
of the public may access or request copies of these documents (see 
ADDRESSES).

Public Meeting

    At the November 9, 2006 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 38th 
Session of CCFH, Dr. Robert Buchanan (see ADDRESSES). Written comments 
should state that they relate to activities of the 38th Session of the 
CCFH.

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.

    Done at Washington, DC on November 1, 2006.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. E6-18689 Filed 11-3-06; 8:45 am]
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