[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 38 (Tuesday, February 27, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8688-8689]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-3264]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2007-0003]


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

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 March 8, 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 Thirty-
ninth Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) of the 
Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held in Beijing, 
China, on April 24-28, 2007. The Under Secretary for Food Safety and 
FDA recognize the importance of providing interested parties the 
opportunity to obtain background information on the 39th Session of 
CCFA and to address items on the agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 8, 2007 from 
3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in the auditorium (Room 
1A003), Harvey W. Wiley Federal Building, FDA, Center for Food Safety 
and Applied Nutrition, 5100 Paint Branch Highway, College Park, MD 
20740. Documents related to the 39th Session of CCFA are accessible via 
the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.
    The U.S. Delegate to the CCFA, Dr. Dennis Keefe, invites U.S. 
interested parties to submit their comments electronically to the 
following e-mail address: [email protected].
    Registration: Attendees may register electronically to the same e-
mail address above by March 6, 2007. Early registration is encouraged 
because it will expedite entry into the building and its parking area. 
If you require parking, please include the vehicle make and tag number, 
if known, when you register. Because the meeting will be held in a 
Federal building, you should also bring a photo identification (ID) and 
plan for adequate time to pass through security screening systems.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE 39th SESSION OF THE CCFA CONTACT: 
Dennis Keefe, Office of Food Additive Safety (HFS-205), Center for Food 
Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College 
Park, MD 20740. Phone (301) 436-1284, Fax: (301) 436-2972, e-mail 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PUBLIC MEETING CONTACT: Ellen Matten, 
International Issues Analyst, U.S. Codex Office, Food Safety and 
Inspection Service, Room 4861, South building, 1400 Independence Ave 
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 Additives was formed in 2006 from the 
division of the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants. It 
was established to set or endorse maximum levels for individual food 
additives; prepare priority lists of food additives for risk assessment 
by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA); assign 
functional classes to individual food additives; recommend 
specifications of identity and purity for food additives for adoption 
by the Commission; consider methods of analysis for the determination 
of additives in food; and consider and elaborate standards or codes for 
related subjects such as the labeling of food additives when sold as 
such. The Committee is hosted by the People's Republic of China.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following items on the Agenda for the 39th Session of CCFA will 
be discussed during the public meeting:
     Matters Referred to the Committee from other Codex bodies.
     Matters of Interest arising from FAO/WHO.
     Endorsement/revision of Maximum Levels for Food Additives 
and Processing Aids in Codex Standards.
     Inclusion of Food Additive Provisions of Commodity 
Standards into the Codex General Standard for Food Additives (GSFA).
     Consideration of the Codex General Standard for Food 
Additives.
     Proposed Draft Guidelines for the Use of Flavourings.
     Processing Aids.
     International Numbering System (INS) for Food Additives.
     Specifications for the Identity and Purity of Food 
Additives.
     Priority List of Food Additives Proposed for Evaluation by 
JECFA.
    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 39th SESSION OF THE CCFA CONTACT).

Public Meeting

    At the March 8, 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 CCFA, 
Dr. Dennis Keefe (see ADDRESSES). Written comments should state that 
they relate to activities of the 39th Session of CCFA.

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

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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 21, 2007.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
 [FR Doc. E7-3264 Filed 2-26-07; 8:45 am]
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