[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 140 (Friday, July 20, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34537-34539]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-15594]


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

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2018-0025]


National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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

SUMMARY: This notice is announcing that the National Advisory Committee 
on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) will hold public 
meetings of the full Committee and Subcommittees on August 7-10, 2018. 
The Committee will discuss and adopt: (1) Effective Salmonella Control 
Strategies for Poultry and (2) Virulence Factors and Attributes that 
Define Foodborne Shiga Toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) as 
Severe Human Pathogens. The Committee will also discuss two new 
charges; the first charge is The Use of Water in Animal Slaughter and 
Processing. Regulatory agencies such as FSIS must also be able to 
provide supportable alternatives to current water consumption practices 
that allow industry to potentially use less and recycle water through 
developing criteria on the appropriate uses of varying water sources 
and treatment technologies in the processing of meat, poultry, and egg 
products. The second charge is Appropriate Product Testing Procedures 
and Criteria to Verify Process Control for Microbial Pathogens or 
appropriate indicator organisms in Ready-to-Eat (RTE) Foods under the 
U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) jurisdiction.

DATES: The full Committee will hold an open meeting on Tuesday, August 
7, 2018 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST. The Subcommittees on the Use 
of Water in Animal Slaughter and Processing, and Appropriate Product 
Testing Procedures and Criteria to Verify Process Control for Microbial 
Pathogens or appropriate indicator organisms in Ready-to-Eat (RTE) 
Foods under FDA's jurisdiction, will hold concurrent open Subcommittee 
meetings on Tuesday, August 7, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, 
August 8, 2018; Thursday, August 9, 2018; and Friday, August 10,

[[Page 34538]]

2018 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST., respectively.

ADDRESSES: The Committee meetings will be held at the Patriot's Plaza 
3, 1st Floor Auditorium and Conference Rooms, 355 E Street SW, 
Washington, DC 20250. Attendance is free. Attendees must show a valid 
photo ID to enter the building. Attendees with non-government ID may be 
required to pass through the security screening systems, please allow 
adequate time for this process.
    FSIS invites interested persons to submit comments on the FSIS-
2018-0025. Comments may be submitted by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: This website provides the 
ability to type short comments directly into the comment field on this 
web page or attach a file for lengthier comments. Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions at that site for 
submitting comments.
     Mail, including CD-ROMs, etc.: Send to Docket Clerk, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, 1400 
Independence Avenue SW, Mailstop 3758, Room 6065, Washington, DC 20250-
3700.
     Hand- or courier-delivered submittals: Deliver to 1400 
Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, Washington, DC 20250-3700.
    Instructions: All items submitted by mail or electronic mail must 
include the Agency name and docket number FSIS-2018-0025. 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.
    Docket: For access to background documents or comments received, 
call (202) 720-5627 to schedule a time to visit the FSIS Docket Room at 
1400 Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, Washington, DC 20250-3700. All 
documents related to the full Committee meeting will be available for 
public inspection in the FSIS Docket Room The NACMCF documents will 
also be available on the internet at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/regulations/federal-register/federal-register-notices.
    FSIS will finalize an agenda on or before the meeting dates and 
post it on the FSIS web page at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/newsroom/meetings. Please note that the meeting agenda is subject 
to change due to the time required for Committee discussions; thus, 
sessions could start or end earlier or later than anticipated. Please 
plan accordingly if you would like to attend a particular session or 
participate in a public comment period.
    The official transcript of the August 7, 2018 full Committee 
meeting, when it becomes available, will be kept in the FSIS Docket 
Room at the above address and will also be posted on https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/data-collection-and-reports/nacmcf/meetings/nacmcf-meetings.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Persons interested in making a 
presentation, submitting technical papers, or providing comments at the 
August 7, plenary session should contact Karen Thomas: Phone: (202) 
690-6620; Fax (202) 690-6334; Email: [email protected] 
or at the mailing address: USDA, FSIS, Office of Public Health Science, 
1400 Independence Avenue SW, Patriots Plaza 3, Mailstop 3777, Room 9-
47, Washington, DC 20250. Persons requiring a sign language interpreter 
or other special accommodations should notify Ms. Thomas by July 30, 
2018.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The NACMCF was established in 1988, in response to a recommendation 
of the National Academy of Sciences for an interagency approach to 
microbiological criteria for foods, and in response to a recommendation 
of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, as 
expressed in the Rural Development, Agriculture, and Related Agencies 
Appropriation Bill for fiscal year 1988. The charter for the NACMCF is 
available for viewing on the FSIS web page at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/data-collection-and-reports/nacmcf/committee-charter.
    The NACMCF provides scientific advice and recommendations to the 
Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
on public health issues relative to the safety and wholesomeness of the 
U.S. food supply, including development of microbiological criteria and 
review and evaluation of epidemiological and risk assessment data and 
methodologies for assessing microbiological hazards in foods. The 
Committee also provides scientific advice and recommendations to the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Departments of 
Commerce and Defense. Questions from the Department of Agriculture and 
Health and Human Services agencies that are sponsors of the Committee 
are submitted as Charges to the Executive Committee for vetting and 
approval before they are presented to the full Committee during the 
plenary session. The Committee is expected to respond to the questions 
during their two-year term.
    Ms. Carmen Rottenberg, Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food 
Safety, USDA, is the Committee Chair; Dr. Susan T. Mayne, Director of 
the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied 
Nutrition, is the Vice-Chair; and Dr. Mark Carter, FSIS, is the 
Designated Federal Officer.

Documents Reviewed by NACMCF

    FSIS will make all materials reviewed and considered by NACMCF 
regarding its deliberations available to the public. Generally, these 
materials will be made available as soon as possible after the full 
Committee meeting. Further, FSIS intends to make these materials 
available in electronic format on the FSIS web page 
(www.fsis.usda.gov), as well as in hard copy format in the FSIS Docket 
Room.
    Disclaimer: NACMCF documents and comments posted on the FSIS 
website are electronic conversions from a variety of source formats. In 
some cases, document conversion may result in character translation or 
formatting errors. The original document is the official, legal copy.
    To meet the electronic and information technology accessibility 
standards in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, NACMCF may add 
alternate text descriptors for non-text elements (graphs, charts, 
tables, multimedia, etc.). These modifications only affect the internet 
copies of the documents.
    Copyrighted documents will not be posted on the FSIS website, but 
will be available for inspection in the FSIS Docket Room.

Additional Public Notification

    Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy 
development is important. Consequently, FSIS will announce this Federal 
Register publication online 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 Constituent 
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

[[Page 34539]]

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).

Paul Kiecker,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2018-15594 Filed 7-19-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P