[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 39 (Wednesday, February 27, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13313-13314]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-04471]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2013-0011]


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

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, are sponsoring a 
public meeting on March 12, 2013. The objective of the public meeting 
is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items 
and draft U.S. positions that will be discussed at the 7th Session of 
the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF) of the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held in Moscow, Russian 
Federation, April 8-12, 2013. The Under Secretary for Food Safety and 
FDA recognize the importance of providing interested parties the 
opportunity to obtain background information on the 7th Session of the 
CCCF and to address items on the agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 12, 2013, 
from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at the Harvey W. Wiley 
Federal Building, Room 1A-001, FDA, Center for Food Safety and Applied 
Nutrition (CFSAN), 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740. 
Documents related to the 7th Session of the CCCF will be accessible via 
the World Wide Web at http://www.codexalimentarius.org/meetings-reports/en/.
    Nega Beru, U.S. Delegate to the 7th Session of the CCCF invites 
interested U.S. parties to submit their comments electronically to the 
following email address [email protected].
    Registration: Attendees may register electronically at the same 
email address provided above by March 8, 2013. The meeting will be held 
in a Federal building; therefore, early registration is encouraged as 
it will expedite entry into the building and its parking area. You 
should also bring photo identification and plan for adequate time to 
pass through security screening systems. If you require parking, please 
include the vehicle make and tag number when you register. Attendees 
that are not able to attend the meeting in-person but wish to 
participate may do so by phone.
    Call in Number: If you wish participate in the public meeting for 
the 7th Session of CCCF by telephone conference, please use the call in 
number and participant code listed below:
    Call in Number: 1-888-858-2144.
    Participant Code: 6208658.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Henry Kim, Ph.D., Office of Food 
Safety, CFSAN/FDA, HFS-317, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 
20740, Telephone: (240) 402-2023, Fax: (301) 436-2632, email: 
[email protected] or Barbara McNiff, U.S. Codex Office, 1400 
Independence Avenue, Washington, DC; Telephone (202) 690-4719, email: 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PUBLIC MEETING CONTACT: Henry Kim, 
Ph.D., Office of Food Safety, CFSAN/FDA, HFS-317, 5100 Paint Branch 
Parkway, College Park, MD 20740, Telephone: (240) 402-2023, Fax: (301) 
436-2632, 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).

[[Page 13314]]

Through adoption of food standards, codes of practice, and other 
guidelines developed by its committees, and by promoting adoption and 
implementation by governments, Codex seeks to protect the health of 
consumers and ensure that fair practices are used in the food trade.
    The CCCF is responsible for:
    (a) Establishing or endorsing permitted maximum levels, and where 
necessary revising existing guideline levels for contaminants and 
naturally occurring toxicants in food and feed;
    (b) Preparing priority lists of contaminants and naturally 
occurring toxicants for risk assessment by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert 
Committee on Food Additives (JECFA);
    (c) Considering and elaborating methods of analysis and sampling 
for the determination of contaminants and naturally occurring toxicants 
in food and feed;
    (d) Considering and elaborating standards or codes of practice for 
related subjects; and
    (e) Considering other matters assigned to it by Codex in relation 
to contaminants and naturally occurring toxicants in food and feed.
    The Committee is chaired by The Netherlands.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following items on the Agenda for the 7th Session of the CCCF 
will be discussed during the public meeting:

 Matters Referred to the CCCF by the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission or its subsidiary bodies
 Matters of Interest Arising from FAO and WHO (including JECFA)
 Matters of Interest Arising from other International 
Organizations
 Proposed Draft Maximum Levels for Deoxynivalenol (DON) in 
Cereals and Cereal-based Products and Associated Sampling Plans
 Editorial Amendments to the General Standard for Contaminants 
and Toxins in Foods and Feeds (GSCTFF)
 Proposed Draft Code of Practice for Weed Control to Prevent 
and Reduce Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid Contamination in Food and Feed
 Proposed Draft Revision of Maximum Levels for Lead in selected 
commodities in the General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food 
and Feed
 Proposed Draft Annex for Prevention and Reduction of 
Aflatoxins and Ochratoxin A Contamination in Sorghum to the Code of 
Practice for the Prevention and Reduction of Mycotoxin Contamination in 
Cereals
 Proposed Draft Code of Practice for the Prevention and 
Reduction of Ochratoxin A contamination in Cocoa
 Proposed Draft Code of Practice to Reduce the Presence of 
Hydrocyanic Acid in Cassava and Cassava Products
 Proposed Draft Maximum Levels for Hydrocyanic Acid in Cassava 
and Cassava Products
 Proposed Draft revision of the guideline levels for 
radionuclides in food
 Discussion paper on the development of a code of practice for 
the prevention and reduction of arsenic contamination in Rice
 Discussion paper on control measures for fumonisions in maize 
and maize products
 Discussion paper on management practices to reduce exposure of 
food-producing animals (livestock and bees) to pyrrolizidine alkaloids; 
and to reduce presence of Pyrroliaidine alkaloids in commodities (raw 
and processed)
 Discussion paper on the review of the guideline level for 
methylmercury in fish and predatory fish
 Discussion paper on aflatoxins in cereals
 Priority List of Contaminants and Naturally Occurring 
Toxicants proposed for evaluation by JECFA
    Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed, 
or to be distributed, by the Secretariat prior to the meeting. Members 
of the public may access or request copies of these documents (see 
ADDRESSES).

Public Meeting

    At the March 12, 2013 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 for the 7th 
Session of the CCCF (see ADDRESSES). Written comments should state that 
they relate to activities of the 7th 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, FSIS will announce it on-line through the FSIS Web page located 
at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/2006_Notices_Index/. FSIS 
also will 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, recalls, 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 and farm 
groups, consumer interest groups, allied health professionals, and 
other individuals who have asked to be included. The update is 
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 email 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 account.

USDA Nondiscrimination Statement

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (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, audiotape, 
etc.) 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.

    Done at Washington, DC, on February 20, 2013.
Mary Frances Lowe,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 2013-04471 Filed 2-26-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P