[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 150 (Thursday, August 4, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 47210]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-19765]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2011-N-0518]


Notices of Filing of Petitions for Food Additives and Color 
Additives; Relocation in the Federal Register

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is notifying the public 
that notices of filing of petitions for food additives and color 
additives that are published in accordance with the Federal Food, Drug, 
and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) will now be published in the ``Proposed 
Rules'' section of the Federal Register. Notices of filing have 
historically been published in the ``Notices'' section of the Federal 
Register. The Office of the Federal Register (OFR) recently informed 
FDA that, under OFR rules, these documents actually fall into the 
``Proposed Rules'' category and requested that FDA reclassify these 
notices of filing documents as proposed rules. This change is effective 
immediately.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joyce Strong, Regulations Editorial 
Section, Office of Policy, Planning and Budget, Food and Drug 
Administration,10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 32, Rm. 3208, Silver 
Spring, MD 20993-0002, 301-796-9148, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Section 409 of the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. 348) establishes the food 
additive petition approval process for food additives for use in human 
and animal food. Section 409(b)(5) requires that the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services publish notice in general terms of the 
receipt of a petition within 30 days of its filing. Similarly, section 
721 of the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. 379e) establishes a petition approval 
process for color additives used in food, drugs, cosmetics, and 
devices, and requires that the Secretary publish notice in general 
terms of the receipt of a color additive petition within 30 days of its 
filing. These responsibilities of the Secretary have been delegated to 
the Commissioner of Food and Drugs and redelegated to certain other FDA 
officials. These notices of filing are published in the Federal 
Register.
    Under the Federal Register Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 15), the 
Administrative Committee of the Federal Register issues regulations 
regarding publishing documents in the Federal Register (1 CFR chapter 
I). Based on these governing regulations, the OFR classifies Agency 
documents published in the Federal Register in one of three categories: 
rules and regulations, proposed rules, and notices. The regulation 
establishing document types is 1 CFR 5.9. FDA's section 409 and section 
721 notices of filing have historically been published in the 
``Notices'' section of the Federal Register. OFR recently informed FDA 
that, in their view, these documents actually fall into the ``Proposed 
Rules'' category and requested that FDA classify future such notices of 
filing documents as proposed rules (Ref. 1).
    Accordingly, FDA documents providing notice under section 409(b)(5) 
or section 721(d)(1) of the FD&C Act will appear in the proposed rule 
section of the Federal Register. This change is effective immediately.

II. Reference

    The following reference has been placed on display in the Division 
of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 
Fishers Lane, rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852, and may be seen by 
interested persons between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

1. Memo from Amy P. Bunk, Office of the Federal Register, to Joyce 
Strong, Food and Drug Administration, May 9, 2011.

    Dated: July 29, 2011.
Leslie Kux,
Acting Assistant Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2011-19765 Filed 8-3-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-01-P