[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 18 (Wednesday, January 28, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4532-4534]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-01566]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2015-0001]


Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration (IFSAC): Meeting 
on Work to Improve Foodborne Illness Source Attribution Estimates for 
Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157, Listeria, and Campylobacter

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notification of Public Meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), in 
collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is hosting a public 
meeting to update stakeholders on IFSAC's work to improve foodborne 
illness source attribution. Specifically, IFSAC will report on work to 
develop harmonized foodborne illness source attribution estimates, as 
well as other analyses IFSAC has undertaken since its formation in 
2011. This work can assist in the development of food safety 
strategies. FSIS, FDA and CDC are also soliciting input from 
stakeholders to assist in planning for future IFSAC endeavors.

DATES: The public meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 24, 2015, 
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Jefferson Auditorium in the 
South Building, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 14th & 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250. The South Building is a 
Federal facility with security procedures. Attendance is free. Non-USDA 
employees must enter through the Wing 4 entrance on Independence 
Avenue. Attendees must be pre-registered for the meeting (and check-in 
onsite the day of the meeting) and show a valid photo ID to enter the 
building. Only registered attendees will be permitted to enter the 
building. For those unable to attend in person, a live Webcast of the 
meeting will be available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions about registering for 
the meeting; to register by telephone; or to submit a notice of 
participation by mail, FAX, or email, please contact Courtney Treece, 
Planning Professionals Ltd., 1210 W. McDermott St., Suite 111, Allen, 
TX 75013, 704-258-4983, FAX: 469-854-6992, or email at 
[email protected]. For general questions about the 
meeting, to request an opportunity to make oral public comments by 
February 9th, 2015; or for special accommodations due to a disability 
by February 9th, 2015, please contact Juanita Yates, Center for Food 
Safety and Applied Nutrition (HFS-009), Food and Drug Administration, 
5100 Paint Branch Pkwy., College Park, MD 20740, 240-402-1731, or email 
at [email protected]. For logistical information about the 
meeting, please contact Edward Stoker, Office of Public Affairs and 
Consumer Education, FSIS at 202-720-4849 or at 
[email protected]. For technical information, please contact 
Joanna Zablotsky Kufel, Office of Data Integration and Food Protection, 
FSIS, 202-690-6644, or email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    To enhance the safety of our food, three Federal agencies--CDC, 
FDA, and FSIS--teamed up in 2011 to create the IFSAC. The goal of this 
collaboration is to improve coordination of Federal food safety 
analytic efforts and address cross-cutting priorities for food safety 
data collection, analysis and use. The current focus of IFSAC's 
activities is foodborne illness source attribution, defined as the 
process of estimating the most common food sources responsible for 
specific foodborne illnesses. Projects and studies conducted by IFSAC 
aim to identify foods that are primary sources of illnesses.
    Federal agencies and food safety experts rely on attribution 
studies to influence strategic planning and risk-

[[Page 4533]]

based decision-making, support development of regulations, and conduct 
risk assessments, among other activities. By bringing together data 
from CDC, FDA, FSIS, and other sources, and by developing sound 
analytical methods, IFSAC can improve estimates of the sources of 
foodborne illness.
    Since its start in 2011, IFSAC has worked jointly on a number of 
analytic projects with the overall objective of advancing knowledge, 
methods, and data associated with foodborne illness attribution. In 
January 2012, IFSAC held its first public meeting and presented the 
IFSAC Strategic Plan, which included a variety of short and long-term 
goals, along with information about current and future projects. Please 
go to the following Web page for more information on the previous 
public meeting: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/newsroom/meetings/past-meetings/past-meetings-2012#IFSAC .
    In addition to the public meeting in 2012, IFSAC has also hosted 
two public webinars on results of existing projects, materials from 
which are available on the IFSAC public Web site at: http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/ifsac/index.html. In addition to material from 
IFSAC-hosted webinars, the IFSAC Web site serves as a venue to share 
information with the public on IFSAC activities.
    At this public meeting, IFSAC will provide updates on completed and 
ongoing projects, focusing particularly on a key project where IFSAC 
developed, for the first time, a single approach to producing 
harmonized foodborne illness source attribution estimates from outbreak 
data for Salmonella, E. coli O157, Listeria, and Campylobacter. IFSAC 
will provide an overview of the projects' approach, analytical methods, 
results, and the utility of estimated attribution.

II. Registration and Meeting Materials

    There is no fee to register for the public meeting, but pre-
registration is mandatory for participants attending both in-person and 
via webcast. On-site registration will not be permitted. Early 
registration is recommended as space is limited. All attendees (in-
person and via webcast) must register online at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/meetings by February 17, 2015. A Webcast link will be 
provided to participants when meeting registration is completed. 
Meeting materials will be posted before the public meeting at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/meetings and http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/ifsac/index.html.

III. Public Comments and Participation in Meeting

Public Comments: Oral Comments

    Stakeholders will have an opportunity to provide oral comments 
during the public meeting. Due to the anticipated high level of 
interest in the opportunity to make public comments and the limited 
time available to do so, IFSAC/FSIS would like to maximize the number 
of individuals who provide oral comments at the meeting and will do its 
best to accommodate all persons who wish to express an opinion. IFSAC/
FSIS encourages persons and groups who have similar interests to 
consolidate their information for presentation by a single 
representative.
    After reviewing the oral presentation requests, IFSAC/FSIS will 
notify each participant before the meeting if their presentation 
request is granted, and, if so, the amount of time they will have to 
present and remind them of the presentation format (e.g., 3-minute oral 
presentation without visual media). There will not be an opportunity to 
display materials such as slide shows, videos, or other media during 
the meeting. Requests to provide oral presentation on the day of the 
meeting will only be granted if time permits. Interested persons and 
organizations who desire an opportunity to make an oral presentation 
and will attend the meeting in-person must register in advance by 
February 9, 2015, by contacting Juanita Yates (see contact information 
in ``Further Information'' section above) with your name, title, firm 
name, address, and phone and FAX numbers as well as the full text, 
comprehensive outline, or summary of your oral presentation. Interested 
persons and organizations who will attend the meeting via webcast must 
submit written comments as a telephone conference line will not be 
available for the meeting.

Public Comments: Written Comments

    Any stakeholders wishing to submit written comments before or after 
the meeting can do so on or before April 30, 2015, using any of the 
following methods: Electronically--go http://www.regulations.gov and 
follow the online instructions for submitting comments; Mail, including 
CD-ROMS--send to Docket Clerk, USDA, FSIS Docket Room, 1400 
Independence Avenue SW., Patriots Plaza III, Mailstop 3782, Room 8-
163A, Washington, DC 20250-3700; Hand- or courier-delivered items--
deliver to the Docket Clerk, USDA, FSIS Docket Room at Patriots Plaza 
III, 355 E Street SW., Room 8-164, Washington, DC 20250, between 8:30 
a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
    All items submitted by mail or electronic mail must include the 
Agency name and docket number: FSIS- 2015-0001. Comments received in 
response to this docket will be made available for public inspection 
and posted without change, including any personal information, to 
http://www.regulations.gov. For access to background documents or 
comments received, go to the FSIS Docket Room at Patriots Plaza III, 
355 E Street SW., Room 8-164, Washington, DC 20250, between 8:30 a.m. 
and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Question-and-Answer Periods

    Time has been allotted for audience questions after most 
presentations delivered during the meeting. In-person participants will 
have the opportunity to ask questions via a microphone in the 
auditorium, but due to the lack of a conference telephone line, webcast 
participants will be required to submit written questions into the 
virtual meeting tool and these questions will be read aloud by meeting 
logistics managers.

IV. Transcripts and Video Recording

    The transcript of the proceedings from the public meeting will 
become part of the administrative record. As soon as the meeting 
transcripts are available, they will be accessible on the FSIS Web site 
at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/newsroom/meetings and the 
IFSAC Web site at http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/ifsac/index.html. The 
transcripts may also be viewed at the FSIS Docket Room at the address 
listed above. Additionally, IFSAC will video record the public meeting. 
Once the video is available, it can be accessed at the FSIS Web site at 
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/newsroom/meetings and the 
IFSAC Web site at http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/ifsac/index.html.

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

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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.

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 23, 2015.
Alfred V. Almanza,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2015-01566 Filed 1-27-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P