[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 63 (Tuesday, April 3, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15861-15862]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-6129]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2007-0011]


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

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 April 10, 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-
fifth Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL) of the 
Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held in Ottawa, 
Canada, on April 30-May 4, 2007. The Under Secretary for Food Safety 
and FDA recognize the importance of providing interested parties the 
opportunity to obtain background information on the 35th Session of 
CCFL and to address items on the agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 10, 2007 from 
1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in the Room 107A, Jamie 
Whitten Federal Building, 1200 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 
20250. Documents related to the 35th Session of CCFL are accessible via 
the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.
    The U.S. Delegate to the CCFL, Dr. Barbara Schneeman, invites U.S. 
interested parties to submit their comments electronically to the 
following e-mail address: [email protected].
    For Further Information About the 35th Session of CCFL Contact: Dr. 
Michael Wehr, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, 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: Edith 
Kennard, 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 Commission (Codex) was established in 1963 
by two United Nations organizations, the Food and Agriculture 
Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). 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 Labelling (CCFL) drafts provisions on 
labeling applicable to all foods; considers, amends if necessary, and 
endorses specific provisions on labeling of draft standards, codes of 
practice, and guidelines prepared by other Codex committees; studies 
specific labeling problems assigned to it by the Commission; and 
studies problems associated with the advertisement of food with 
particular reference to claims and misleading descriptions. The 
Committee is chaired by Canada.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following items on the Agenda for the 35th Session of the CCFL 
will be discussed during the public meeting:
     Matters Referred to the Committee from other Codex bodies.
     Matters Referred by FAO/WHO: Draft Action Plan for 
Implementation of the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and 
Health.
     Consideration of Labelling Provisions in Draft Codex 
Standards.
     Guidelines for the Production, Processing, Labelling and 
Marketing of Organically Produced Foods: Draft

[[Page 15862]]

Revised Annex 2: Table 3, parts 1 & 2, Table 1, Natural Sodium Nitrate; 
Addition of Ethylene.
     Labelling of Foods and Food Ingredients Obtained through 
Certain Techniques of Genetic Modification/Genetic Engineering: 
Definitions and Labelling Provisions.
     Proposed Draft Amendment to the General Standard for the 
Labelling of Prepackaged Foods: Quantitative Declaration of 
Ingredients.
     Proposed Draft Definition of Advertising in Relation to 
Nutrition and Health Claims.
     Discussion Paper on Modified Standardized Common Names.
    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 April 10, 2007 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 CCFL, Dr. 
Barbara Schneeman (see ADDRESSES). Written comments should state that 
they relate to activities of the 35th Session of CCFL.

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 March 29, 2007.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
 [FR Doc. E7-6129 Filed 4-2-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P