[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 222 (Thursday, November 17, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71308-71309]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-29711]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2011-0026]


Codex Alimentarius Commission: Meeting of the Ad Hoc 
Intergovernmental Codex Task Force on Animal Feeding

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 Center for Veterinary 
Medicine (CVM), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are sponsoring a 
public meeting on January 18, 2012. 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 
6th Session of the Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Animal 
Feeding (AFTF) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will 
be held in Berne Switzerland, February 20-24, 2012. The Under Secretary 
for Food Safety and the Center for Veterinary Medicine, FDA, recognize 
the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to 
obtain background information on the 6th Session of the AFTF and to 
address items on the agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 18, 2012, 
from 1 p.m.-3 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in the Jamie L. Whitten 
Building, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Room 107-A, Washington, 
DC 20250. Documents related to the 6th Session of the AFTF will be 
accessible via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.org.
    Daniel McChesney, U.S. Delegate to the 6th Session of the AFTF, 
invites

[[Page 71309]]

U.S. interested parties to submit their comments electronically to the 
following email address [email protected].
    Call-In Number:
    If you wish to participate in the public meeting for the 6th 
Session of the AFTF by conference call, please use the call-in number 
and participant code listed below.
    Call-in Number: 1-(888) 858-2144
    Participant Code: 6208658
    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE 6th SESSION OF THE AFTF CONTACT: 
Daniel G. McChesney, Director, Office of Surveillance and Compliance, 
Center for Veterinary Medicine, FDA, 7529 Standish Place, Rockville, MD 
20855, telephone: (240) 453-6830, fax: (240) 453-6880, email: 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PUBLIC MEETING CONTACT: Doreen Chen-
Moulec, U.S. Codex Office, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Room 4861, 
Washington, DC 20250, telephone: (202) 205-7760, fax: (202) 720-3157, 
email: [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 AFTF is responsible for:
    (a) The development of guidelines intended for governments on how 
to apply the existing Codex risk assessment methodologies to the 
various types of hazards related to contaminants/residues in feed 
ingredients, including feed additives used in feeding stuffs for food 
producing animals. The guidelines should include specific science based 
risk assessment criteria to apply to feed contaminants/residues. These 
criteria should be consistent with existing Codex methodologies.
    The guidelines should also consider the need to address the 
establishment of rates of transfer and accumulation from feed to edible 
tissues in animal-derived products according to the characteristics of 
the hazard.
    The guidelines should be drawn up in such a way as to enable 
countries to prioritize and assess risks based upon local conditions, 
use, exposure of animals and the impact, if any, on human health.
    (b) Develop a prioritized list of hazards in feed ingredients and 
feed additives for governmental use. The list should contain hazards of 
international relevance that are reasonably likely to occur, and are 
thus likely to warrant future attention.
    In doing so, due consideration should be given to the prioritized 
list of hazards as recommended by the FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Animal 
Feed Impact on Food Safety. Clear criteria should be used to prioritize 
the list of hazards and to take account of the potential transfer of 
contaminants/residues in feed to edible animal products (e.g. meat, 
fish meat, milk and eggs).
    The AFTF is hosted by Switzerland.

Issues to be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following items on the agenda for the 6th Session of the AFTF 
will be discussed during the public meeting:
     Matters referred to the AFTF by Codex and other Codex 
Committees and Task Forces.
     Report on activities of the FAO, WHO and other 
International Intergovernmental Organizations.
     Proposed draft guidelines on application of risk 
assessment for feed.
     Proposed draft prioritized list of hazards in feed.
    Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed, 
or to be distributed, by the Secretariat before the meeting. Members of 
the public may access copies of these documents (see ADDRESSES).

Public Meeting

    At the January 18, 2012, 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 Daniel McChesney, 
U.S. Delegate for the 6th Session of the AFTF (see ADDRESSES). Written 
comments should state that they relate to activities of the 6th Session 
of the AFTF.

USDA Nondiscrimination Statement

    USDA prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on 
the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, 
disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or 
family status (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs).
    Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for 
communication of program information (Braille, large print, and 
audiotape) should contact USDA's Target Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice 
and TTY).
    To file a written complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Office 
of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue 
SW., Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TTY). 
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Additional Public Notification

    FSIS will announce this notice online through the FSIS Web page 
located athttp://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations_&_policies/Federal_Register_Notices/index.asp.
    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. 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 athttp://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_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: November 14, 2011.
Karen Stuck,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 2011-29711 Filed 11-16-11; 8:45 am]
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