[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 24, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8229-8230]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-3847]


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

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2009-0001]


 Codex Alimentarius Commission: Meeting of the Codex Committee on 
Contaminants in Foods

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

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for comments.

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

SUMMARY: The Office of the Acting Deputy 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 March 5, 2009. 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 3rd Session of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in 
Foods (CCCF) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will 
be held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, from March 23-27, 2009.
    The Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety and FDA recognize 
the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to 
obtain background information on the 3rd Session of the CCCF and to 
address items that will be on the agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 5, 2009, 
from 1 to 3 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in the Harvey Wiley Federal 
Building, Room 1A-001, FDA, Center for Food Safety and Applied 
Nutrition (CFSAN), 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740. 
Codex documents related to the 3rd Session of the CCCF are accessible 
via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexaliment;arius.net/current.asp.
    The U.S. Delegate to the CCCF, Dr. Nega Beru, 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 3rd SESSION OF THE CCCF CONTACT: Dr. 
Henry Kim, 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: Paulo 
Almeida, Associate Manager, 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, 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 (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

[[Page 8230]]

seeks to protect the health of consumers and ensure that fair practices 
are used in trade.
    The CCCF was established by Codex in 2006 as a separate Committee 
to establish or endorse maximum levels for contaminants and naturally 
occurring toxicants in food and feed; to prepare priority lists of 
contaminants and naturally occurring toxicants for risk assessment by 
the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA); to 
consider methods of analysis and sampling for determination of 
contaminants and naturally occurring toxicants in food and feed; to 
consider and elaborate standards or codes of practice for related 
subjects; and to consider other matters assigned to it by the 
Commission in relation to contaminants and naturally occurring 
toxicants in food and feed. The Committee is hosted by The Netherlands.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following items on the agenda for the 3rd Session of the CCCF 
will be discussed during the public meeting:
     Matters Referred to the Committee from other Codex bodies.
     Matters of interest arising from FAO and WHO (including 
JECFA).
     Draft Revision of the Preamble of the General Standard for 
Contaminants and Toxins in Food (GSCTF) (N04-2006).
     Draft Code of Practice for the Reduction of Acrylamide in 
Food (N06-2006).
     Draft Code of Practice for the Reduction of Contamination 
of Food with Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) from Smoking and 
Direct Drying Processes (N07-2006).
     Proposed Draft Maximum Levels for Total Aflatoxins in 
Brazil Nuts (N11-2008).
     Proposed Draft Code of Practice for the Prevention and 
Reduction of Ochratoxin A Contamination in Coffee (N12-2008).
     Discussion Paper on Fumonisins.
     Discussion Paper on Benzene in Soft Drinks.
     Discussion Paper on Cyanogenic Glycosides.
     Discussion Paper on Mycotoxins in Sorghum.
     Discussion Paper on Ethyl Carbamate on Alcoholic 
Beverages.
     Priority List of Contaminants and Naturally Occurring 
Toxicants Proposed for Evaluation by the JECFA.
    Each item listed above will be fully described in documents 
distributed, or to be distributed, by the Secretariat prior to the 
March 23-27, 2009, meeting in Rotterdam. Members of the public may 
access copies of these documents at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.

Public Meeting

    At the March 5, 2009, 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 Dr. Henry Kim at 
[email protected]. Written comments should state that they relate 
to activities of the 3rd Session of the CCCF.

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, USDA will announce it online via its Food Safety and Inspection 
Service (FSIS) Web page located at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/2009_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 February 18, 2009.
Barbara McNiff,
Acting U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. E9-3847 Filed 2-23-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P