[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 14, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1890-1892]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-00435]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2014-0045]


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

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 Acting 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 February 17, 2015, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The 
objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive 
public comments on agenda items and draft United States (U.S.) 
positions to be discussed at the 47th Session of the Codex Committee on 
Food Additives (CCFA) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), 
taking place in Xi'an, China, March 23-27, 2015. The Acting Under 
Secretary for Food Safety and FDA recognize the importance of providing 
interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on 
the 47th Session of the CCFA and to address items on the agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 17, 2015, 
from 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will take place at the Harvey Wiley 
Federal Building, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 5100 Paint Branch 
Parkway, Rooms 1A-001 and 1A-002, College Park, MD 20740.
    Documents related to the 47th Session of the CCFA will be 
accessible via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.org/meetings-reports/en/.
    Susan Carberry, U.S. Delegate to the 47th Session of the CCFA and 
FDA, invite U.S. interested parties to submit their comments 
electronically to the following email address: [email protected].

Registration

    Attendees may register by emailing [email protected] by February 12, 
2015. 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

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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 47th Session of the CCFA Contact: 
Susan Carberry, Ph.D., Supervisory Chemist, Office of Food Additive 
Safety, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition CFSAN/FDA, 
Division of Petition Review, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, HFS-205, 
College Park, MD 20740, Telephone: (240) 402-1269, Fax: (301) 436-2972, 
email: [email protected].
    For Further Information about the Public Meeting Contact: Daniel E. 
Folmer, Ph.D., Review Chemist, Office of Food Additive Safety, Center 
for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition CFSAN/FDA, Division of Petition 
Review, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, HFS-265, College Park, MD 20740, 
Telephone: (240) 402-1269, Fax: (301) 436-2972, 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 CCFA establishes or endorses permitted maximum levels for 
individual food additives; prepares priority lists of food additives 
for risk assessment by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food 
Additives (JECFA); assigns functional classes and International 
Numbering System (INS) numbers 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 47th Session of the CCFA 
will be discussed during the public meeting:

 Matters Referred by Codex and other Codex committees
 Matters of Interest arising from FAO/WHO and from the 79th 
Meeting of the JECFA
 Proposed draft Specifications for Identity and Purity of Food 
Additives arising from the 79th JECFA Meeting
 Endorsement or Revision of Maximum Levels for Food Additives 
and Processing Aids in Codex standards
 Alignment of the food additive provisions of commodity 
standards and relevant provisions of the General Standard for Food 
Additives
 Provisions in Tables 1 and 2 for food additives listed in 
Table 3 with: (i) ``acidity regulator'' function for use other than as 
acidity regulators; and (ii) for other Table 3 food additives with 
functions other than ``emulsifier, stabilizer, thickener,'' ``colour,'' 
and ``sweeteners''--pending from CCFA 46
 Provisions in Tables 1 and 2 for food additives listed in 
Table 3 with ``emulsifier, stabilizer, thickener'' function for their 
use for technological function other than as emulsifier, stabilizer, 
thickener
 Food additive provisions in Tables 1 and 2 in food categories 
01.2 through 08.4, with the exclusion of food categories 04.1.2.4, 
04.2.2.4, 04.2.2.5, 04.2.2.6, 05.1.1, 05.1.3, and 05.1.4
 Food additive provisions of food category 14.2.3 ``Grape 
wines'' and its sub-categories (information on actual use levels and 
recommendations)
 Provisions for cyclotetraglucose (INS 1504(i)), 
cyclotetraglucose syrup (INS 1504(ii)) and nisin (INS 234)
 Proposal for revision of food category 01.1 ``Milk and diary 
based drinks'' and its sub-categories
 Note 161--Application of alternative note to provisions for 
sweeteners
 Proposals for new or revision of food additive provisions
 Proposed draft revision to the INS for Food Additives
 Proposals for additions and changes to the Priority List of 
Substances proposed for evaluation by JECFA
 Information on the availability of data for the re-evaluation 
of six priority colours
 Information on commercial use of potassium diacetate (INS 
261(ii)) in food
 Discussion paper on secondary additives
 Discussion paper on the inconsistent terminology related to 
flavourings in Codex texts
 Other Business and Future Work.

    Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed, 
or to be distributed, by the Codex Secretariat prior to the meeting. 
Members of the public may access these documents at ftp://ftp.fao.org/codex/meetings/CCFA/ccfa46/.

Public Meeting

    At the February 17, 2015, 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 47th Session of the CCFA, Dr. Susan Carberry at the following email 
address: [email protected]. Written comments should state that they 
relate to activities of the 47th Session of the CCFA.

Additional Public Notification

    Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy 
development is important. Consequently, FSIS will announce this Federal 
Register publication on-line through the FSIS Web page located at: 
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/federal-register.
    FSIS also will make copies of this 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 our constituents and 
stakeholders. The Update is available on the FSIS Web page. Through the 
Web page, FSIS is able to provide information to a much broader, 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/subscribe. Options range from recalls to export 
information, regulations, directives, and notices. Customers can add or 
delete subscriptions themselves, and have the option to password 
protect their accounts.

USDA Non-Discrimination Statement

    No agency, officer, or employee of the USDA shall, on the grounds 
of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual 
orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, 
income derived from a public assistance program, or political beliefs, 
exclude from participation in, deny the benefits of, or subject to 
discrimination any person in the United States under any program or 
activity conducted by the USDA.

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How To File a Complaint of Discrimination

    To file a complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program 
Discrimination Complaint Form, which may be accessed online at http://www.ocio.usda.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2012/Complain_combined_6_8_12.pdf, or write a letter signed by you or your 
authorized representative.
    Send your completed complaint form or letter to USDA by mail, fax, 
or email:

Mail

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of Adjudication, 
1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-9410.

Fax

    (202) 690-7442.

Email

    [email protected].

    Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for 
communication (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.), should contact 
USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).

    Done at Washington, DC, on January 9, 2015.
Paulo Almeida,
Acting, U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 2015-00435 Filed 1-13-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P