[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 187 (Thursday, September 26, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59336-59337]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-23503]


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

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2013-0031]


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

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

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for comments.

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

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 (HHS), are 
sponsoring a public meeting on October 23, 2013. 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 Forty-fifth Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene 
(CCFH) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held 
in Ha Noi, Vietnam, from November 11-15, 2013. The Under Secretary for 
Food Safety and the FDA recognize the importance of providing 
interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on 
the 45th Session of CCFH and to address items on the agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for October 23, 2013 from 1:00 
p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will take place in the Jamie L. Whitten 
Building, United States Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence 
Avenue SW., Room 107-A, Washington, DC 20250.
    Documents related to the 45th Session of the CCFH will be 
accessible via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.org/meetings-reports/en/.
    Jenny Scott, U.S. Delegate to the CCFH, invites 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 45th 
session of the CCFH 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 CONTACT: For further information about the 45th 
Session on the CCFH contact: Jenny Scott, Senior Advisor, Office of 
Food Safety, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food 
and Drug Administration, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, HFS-300, Room 3B-
014, College Park, MD 20740-3835; Telephone: (240) 402-2166, Fax: (202) 
436-2632, Email: [email protected].
    For further information about the public meeting contact: Barbara 
McNiff, U.S. Codex Office, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Room 4861, 
South Building, Washington, DC, 20250; Telephone: (202)690-4719, Fax: 
(202) 720-3157, Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Codex Alimentarius (Codex) was established in 1963 by two 
United Nations organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization and 
the World Health Organization. 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 fair 
practices in the food trade.
    The Codex Committee on Food Hygiene is responsible for:
    (a) Drafting basic provisions on food hygiene applicable to all 
food;
    (b) Considering, amending if necessary, and endorsing provisions on 
hygiene prepared by Codex commodity committees and contained in Codex 
commodity standards;
    (c) Considering, amending if necessary, and endorsing provisions on 
hygiene prepared by Codex commodity committees and contained in Codex 
codes of practice unless, in specific cases, the Commission has decided 
otherwise
    (d) Drafting provisions on hygiene applicable to specific food 
items or food groups, whether coming within the terms of reference of a 
Codex commodity committee or not;
    (e) Considering specific hygiene problems assigned to it by the 
Commission;
    (f) Suggesting and prioritizing areas where there is a need for 
microbiological risk assessment at the international level and to 
develop questions to be addressed by the risk assessors; and

[[Page 59337]]

    (g) Considering microbiological risk management matters in relation 
to food hygiene, including food irradiation, and in relation to the 
risk assessment of FAO/WHO.
    The CCFH is hosted by the United States.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following items on the Agenda for the 45th Session of the CCFH 
will be discussed during the public meeting:

 Matters Referred by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and/or 
Other Codex Committees and Task Forces to the Food Hygiene Committee
 Matters arising from the Work of FAO, WHO and other 
International Intergovernmental Organizations
    (a) Progress Report on the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on 
Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) and Related Matters
    (b) Information from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)
 Proposed Draft Guidelines for Control of Specific Zoonotic 
Parasites in Meat: Trichinella spiralis and Cysticercus bovis at Step 4
 Proposed Draft Revision of the Code of Hygienic Practice for 
Spices and Dried Aromatic Plants at Step 4
 Proposed Code of Practice for Low Moisture Foods at Step 4
 Discussion paper on occurrence and control of parasites
 Discussion paper on the need to revise the Code of Hygienic 
Practice for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
 Other Business and Future Work
    (a) Forward Work plan and criteria for evaluating and prioritizing 
new work
    (b) New Work
    Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed, 
or to be distributed, by the Codex Secretariat prior to the Committee 
meeting. Members of the public may access or request copies of these 
documents (see ADDRESSES).

Public Meeting

    At the October 23, 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 the U.S. Delegate for 
the 45th Session of the CCFH, Jenny Scott (see ADDRESSES). Written 
comments should state that they relate to activities of the 45th 
Session of the CCFH.

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.

Additional Public Notification

    FSIS will announce this notice online through the FSIS Web page 
located at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/regulations/federal-register.
    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/wps/portal/fsis/programs-and-services/email-subscription-service. 
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.

    Done at Washington, DC, on September 20, 2013.
Mary Frances Lowe,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 2013-23503 Filed 9-25-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P