[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 8 (Friday, January 11, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2001-2002]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-310]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2007-0047]


Codex Alimentarius Commission: Meeting of the Codex Committee on 
Natural Mineral Waters

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 January 16, 2008. 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 8th Session of the Codex Committee on Natural Mineral Waters 
(CCNMW) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be 
held in Lugano, Switzerland on February 11-15, 2008.
    The Under Secretary for Food Safety and FDA recognize the 
importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain 
background information on the 8th Session of the CCNMW and to address 
items that will be on the agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 
from 9 a.m. to 12 noon.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in Room 1A001, FDA, Center 
for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), Harvey Wiley Federal 
Building, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740. Codex 
documents related to the 8th Session of the CCNMW will be accessible 
via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.
    The Acting U.S. Delegate to the CCNMW, Dr. Henry Kim, invites 
interested U.S. parties to submit their comments electronically to the 
following e-mail address: [email protected].
    Registration: Register electronically to the same e-mail address 
above. 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 photo identification and plan for adequate time to pass through 
security screening systems.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE 8th SESSION OF THE CCNMW CONTACT: 
Henry Kim, Acting U.S. Delegate to the CCNMW, Office of Food Safety, 
CFSAN, FDA, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway (HFS-317), College Park, MD 
20740, Phone: (301) 436-2023, Fax: (301) 436-2651, e-mail: 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PUBLIC MEETING CONTACT: Edith 
Kennard, Staff Officer, U.S. Codex Office, Food Safety and Inspection 
Service (FSIS), 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 (Codex) was established in 1963 
by two United Nations organizations, the Food and Agriculture 
Organization 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 Natural Mineral Waters (CCNMW) was 
established by the Commission as a regional Codex Committee, but has 
since been allocated the task of elaborating worldwide standards for 
natural mineral waters and bottled (packaged) water other than natural

[[Page 2002]]

mineral water. The Committee is hosted by Switzerland.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following items will be discussed during the public meeting:
     Matters Referred to the Committee by the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission and Other Codex Committees.
     Consideration of the Health-Related Limits for Certain 
Substances in the Codex Standard on Natural Mineral Waters (CODEX STAN 
108-1981).
     Substances listed as having discrepancies that exist 
between the Codex Standard and the WHO Guidelines for Drinking Water 
Quality, 3rd edition (guideline values for chemicals of health 
significance).
     Discrepancies between the Codex Standards and WHO 
Guidelines exist for

--Antimony
--Borate
--Copper
--Manganese
--Nitrite
--Mercury
--Nickel

    Each item listed above will be fully described in documents 
distributed, or to be distributed, by the Swiss Secretariat prior to 
the February 11-15, 2008 meeting in Lugano, Switzerland. Members of the 
public may access copies of these documents at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.

Public Meeting

    At the January 16, 2008, 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 Acting U.S. 
Delegate for the 8th Session of the CCNMW, Dr. Henry Kim, at 
[email protected]. Written comments should state that they relate 
to activities of the 8th Session of the CCNMW.

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/2008_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 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 the Listserv and 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/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 accounts.

    Done at Washington, DC, on January 7, 2008.
Paulo Almeida,
Acting U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. E8-310 Filed 1-10-08; 8:45 am]
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