[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 18 (Thursday, January 28, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4523-4525]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-1666]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2009-0040]


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

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

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the Acting Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug Administration

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(FDA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, are sponsoring a 
public meeting on February 8, 2010. The objective of the public meeting 
is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items 
and draft United States (U.S.) positions that will be discussed at the 
42nd Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) of the 
Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held in Beijing, 
China March 15-19, 2010. The Acting Under Secretary for Food Safety and 
FDA recognize the importance of providing interested parties the 
opportunity to obtain background information on the 42nd Session of the 
CCFA and to address items on the agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Monday, February 8, 2010, 
from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in the Auditorium (1A003), 
FDA, Harvey Wiley Federal Building, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College 
Park, MD 20740.
    Documents related to the 42nd Session of the CCFA will be 
accessible via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.
    The U.S. Delegate to the 42nd Session of the CCFA, Dennis Keefe, 
and FDA, invite interested U.S. parties to submit their comments 
electronically to the following e-mail address: [email protected].

Registration

    Attendees may register electronically at the same e-mail address 
provided above by February 4, 2010. 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 
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.
    Attendees that are not able to attend the meeting in-person but 
wish to participate may do so by phone. Those wishing to participate by 
phone should request the call-in number and conference code when they 
register for the meeting.
    For Further Information About the 42nd Session of the CCFA Contact: 
Dennis M. Keefe, Ph.D., Manager, International Activities Office of 
Food Additive Safety, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, 
FDA, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740, Telephone: 
(301) 436-1284, Fax: (301) 436-2972, e-mail: [email protected].
    For Further Information About the Public Meeting Contact: Paul 
Honigfort, Ph.D, Consumer Safety Officer, Division of Food Contact 
Notifications, Office of Food Additive Safety CFSAN/FDA, 5100 Paint 
Branch Parkway HFS-275, College Park, MD 20740, Telephone: (301) 436-
1206, Fax: (301) 436-2965, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    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 CCFA establishes or endorses permitted maximum levels for 
individual additives; prepares priority lists of food additives for 
risk assessment by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives 
(JECFA); assigns functional classes to individual food additives; 
recommends specifications of identity and purity for food additives for 
adoption by Codex; considers methods of analysis for the determination 
of additives in food; and considers and elaborates standards or codes 
for related subjects such as labeling of food additives when sold as 
such. The CCFA is hosted by China.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following items on the agenda for the 42nd Session of the CCFA 
will be discussed during the public meeting:
     Matters referred by Codex and other Codex committees and 
task forces.
     Matters of interest arising from FAO/WHO and from the 71st 
Meeting of the JECFA.
     Endorsement and/or revision of maximum levels for food 
additives and processing aids in codex standards.
     Draft and proposed draft food additive provisions of the 
General Standards for Food Additives (GSFA).
     Comments and information on several food additive 
provisions of the GSFA.
     Comments and information on the reporting basis of the 
provisions for aluminum containing food additives included in the GSFA.
     Comments and information on several aspects of the Food 
Category System of the GSFA.
     Discussion paper on innovative proposals to expedite the 
work on the GSFA.
     Proposed draft guidelines and principles for substances 
used as processing aids.
     Inventory of substances used as processing aids, updated 
list.
     Proposals for changes or additions to the International 
Numbering System (INS) for food additives.
     Discussion paper on principles regarding the need for 
justification for proposals of changes to the INS.
     Specifications for the identity and purity of food 
additives arising from the 71st JECFA meeting.
     Proposals for additions and changes to the priority list 
of food additives proposed for evaluation by the JECFA.
     Discussion paper on mechanisms for re-evaluation of 
substances by the JECFA.
     Discussion paper on the identification of problems and 
recommendations related to the inconsistent presentation of food 
additives provisions in Codex commodity standards.
     Discussion paper on the Codex standard for food grade 
salt.
    Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed, 
or to be distributed, by the Executive Secretariat prior to the 
meeting. Members of the public may access these documents (see 
ADDRESSES).

Public Meeting

    At the February 8, 2010, 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 
the 42nd Session of the CCFA, Dr. Dennis Keefe, (see ADDRESSES). 
Written comments should state that they relate to activities of the 
42nd Session of the 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 online through the FSIS Web page located 
at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/2010_Notices_Index/.
    FSIS will also make copies of this Federal Register publication 
available through the FSIS Constituent Update, which is used to provide 
information

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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 e-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 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 accounts.

    Done at Washington, DC, on January 20, 2010.
Karen Stuck,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 2010-1666 Filed 1-27-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P