[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 208 (Monday, October 29, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61106-61107]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-21142]


 ========================================================================
 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
 and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
 statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
 appearing in this section.
 
 ========================================================================
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 208 / Monday, October 29, 2007 / 
Notices  

[[Page 61106]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2007-0042]


Codex Alimentarius Commission: Meeting of the Codex Committee on 
Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, United 
States Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Department of Health and 
Human Services, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are sponsoring a 
public meeting. The meeting will be held on November 1, 2007, 1 p.m.-3 
p.m. to discuss the agenda items coming before the 16th Session of the 
Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification 
Systems (CCFICS) and present draft positions on the agenda items. The 
16th Session of the CCFICS will be held November 26-November 30, 2007, 
in Queensland, Australia. The Under Secretary and FDA recognize the 
importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to comment 
on the agenda items that will be debated at this forthcoming Session of 
the CCFICS.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 1, 2007, 
from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in Room 0161 of the South 
Agriculture Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 
(Smithsonian Metro stop). Documents related to the 16th Session of the 
CCFICS will be accessible via the World Wide Web at the following 
address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.
    The U.S. Delegate to the 16th Session of CCFICS, Dr. Catherine 
Carnevale, Director, Office of Constituent Operations, Center for Food 
Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), FDA, invites U.S. interested 
parties to submit their comments electronically to Dr. Michael Wehr, 
Acting Deputy Director, Codex Program Coordinator, International 
Affairs Staff, CFSAN, FDA, E-mail address: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PUBLIC MEETING CONTACT:  Edith 
Kennard, Staff Officer, U.S. Codex Office, Food Safety and Inspection 
Service, Room 4861, South Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC 20250, Phone: (202) 720-5261, Fax: (202) 720-3157, E-
mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Codex Alimentarius Commission 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 CCFICS was established to develop principles and guidelines for 
food import and export inspection and certification systems to 
facilitate trade through harmonization and to supply safe and quality 
foods to consumers. Included in the charge is application of measures 
by competent authorities to provide assurance that foods comply with 
essential requirements. The Committee is hosted by the government of 
Australia.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    Draft Provisional Agenda items to be discussed at the public 
meeting:
     Matters Referred to the Committee by the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission and Other Codex Committees and Task Forces
     Proposed Draft Appendix to the Guidelines on the Judgement 
of Equivalence of Sanitary Measures Associated with Food Inspection and 
Certification at Step 4
     Discussion Paper on the Need to Revise the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission/Guideline (CAC/GL) 20-1995 and CAC/GL 26-1997
     Discussion Paper on the Need for Guidance for National 
Food Inspection Systems
     Discussion Paper on the Development of Guidelines for the 
Conduct of Foreign Audit Team Inspections
     Discussion Paper on the Need for Further Guidance on 
Traceability/Product Tracing
     Consistency of the Draft Model Export Certificate for Milk 
and Milk Products with CAC/GL 38-2001
     Other Business and Future Work: Discussion Paper on the 
Development of a Generic Template for Health Certificates
    Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed, 
or to be distributed, by the Codex Secretariat. Members of the public 
may access these documents via the World Wide Web at the following 
address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.

Public Meeting

    At the November 1, 2007, public meeting, the agenda items coming 
before the 16th Session of the CCFICS will be 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 16th Session of the CCFICS, Dr. Catherine Carnevale (see 
ADDRESSES). Written comments should state that they relate to 
activities of the 16th Session of the CCFICS.

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 online through the FSIS Web page located 
at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/2007_Notices_Index/. FSIS 
will also 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, and other types of information 
that could affect or would be of interest to constituents and 
stakeholders. The

[[Page 61107]]

Update is communicated via Listserv, a free electronic mail 
subscription service for industry, trade groups, consumer interest 
groups, health professionals, and other individuals who have asked to 
be included. The Update is also available on the FSIS Web page. Through 
Listserv and the Web page, FSIS is able to provide information to a 
much broader and more diverse audience. In addition, FSIS offers an 
electronic 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/e-mail_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 
accounts.

    Done at Washington, DC, on October 23, 2007.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
 [FR Doc. E7-21142 Filed 10-26-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P