[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 29 (Tuesday, February 13, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6709-6710]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-2437]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2007-0005]


Codex Alimentarius Commission: Meeting of the Codex Committee on 
Methods of Analysis and Sampling

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) are sponsoring a public meeting on February 22, 2007. 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 Twenty-Eighth Session of the Codex Committee 
on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) of the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission (Codex), which will be held in Budapest, Hungary March 5-9, 
2007. The Under Secretary for Food Safety and The Food and Drug 
Administration recognize the importance of providing interested parties 
the opportunity to obtain background information on the 28th Session of 
CCMAS and to address items on the agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 22, 2007 
from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon.

[[Page 6710]]


ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in Room 1A002, Harvey Wiley 
Federal Building, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740. 
Documents related to the 28th Session of CCMAS will be accessible via 
the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.
    The U.S. Delegate to the 28th Session of CCMAS, Dr. Gregory 
Diachenko of FDA invites U.S. interested parties to submit their 
comments electronically to the following e-mail address 
[email protected].

For Further Information About the 28th Session of the CCMAS Contact: 
Dr. Gregory Diachenko, Room HFS-245, Harvey Wiley Federal Building, 
5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740-3835, Phone: (301) 
436-1898, Fax: (301) 436-2364, e-mail: [email protected].

For Further Information About the Public Meeting Contact: Mr. Syed 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 [email protected].

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 Methods of Analysis and Sampling was 
established to elaborate codes, standards and related texts to define 
the criteria appropriate to Codex Methods of Analysis and Sampling. The 
Committee is hosted by Hungary.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following items on the Agenda for the 28th Session of CCMAS 
will be discussed during the public meeting:
     Matters Referred to the Committee by the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission and other Codex Committees.
     Draft Guidelines for Evaluating Acceptable Methods of 
Analysis.
     Draft Guidelines for Settling Disputes over Analytical 
(Test) Results.
     Proposed Draft Guidelines on Analytical Terminology for 
Codex Use.
     Endorsement of Methods of Analysis Provisions in Codex 
Standards.
     Conversion of Methods for Trace Elements into Criteria.
     Criteria for the Methods for the Detection and 
Identification of Foods Derived from Biotechnology.
     Revision of the Principles for the Establishment of Codex 
Sampling Procedures.
    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 For 
Further Information About the 28th Session of the CCMAS Contact).

Public Meeting

    At the February 22, 2007 public meeting, draft U.S. positions on 
the agenda items will be described and 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 CCMAS, Dr. Gregory Diachenko (see ADDRESSES). 
Written comments should state that they relate to activities of the 
28th Session of CCMAS.

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/2007_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 February 8, 2007.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. E7-2437 Filed 2-12-07; 8:45 am]
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