[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6696-6697]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02020]


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 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
 and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
 statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
 appearing in this section.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 21 / Wednesday, February 1, 2023 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

U.S. Codex Office


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

AGENCY: U.S. Codex Office, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Codex Office is sponsoring a public meeting on 
February 21, 2023, from 9-12 p.m. EST. 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 
53rd Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) of the 
Codex Alimentarius Commission, in Hong Kong, People's Republic of China 
on March 27-31, 2023. The U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius and the 
Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs recognize 
the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to 
obtain background information on the 53rd Session of the CCFA and to 
address items on the agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for February 21, 2023, from 9 
a.m. to 12 p.m. EST.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will take place in a hybrid format. The 
on-site location is Meeting Room 1A-001 at the Center for Food Safety 
and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 5001 Campus 
Drive, College Park, MD 20740-3835. Documents related to the 53rd 
Session of the CCFA will be accessible via the internet at the 
following address: https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/meetings/detail/en/?meeting=CCFA&session=53.
    Dr. Paul Honigfort, U.S. Delegate to the 53rd Session of the CCFA, 
invites interested U.S. parties to submit their comments electronically 
to the following email address: [email protected].
    Registration: In-person attendees may register to attend the public 
meeting at the following email address: [email protected]. Virtual 
attendees may register to attend the public meeting via video 
teleconference here: https://fda.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIsd-6sqj8oEj61dNRGO8b-j0Ml6ffauzw. Attendees should register by February 
16, 2023. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email 
containing information about joining the meeting. For further 
information about the public meeting, contact Dr. LaShonda Cureton by 
phone at: +1 (240) 402-1351 or by email at 
[email protected].
    For further information about the 53rd session of CCFA, contact 
U.S. Delegate, Dr. Paul Honigfort, by phone at: +1 (240) 402-1206 or by 
email at [email protected], or Alternate U.S. Delegate, Dr. 
Daniel Folmer by phone at +1 (240) 402-1274 or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Codex Alimentarius Commission 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 
fair practices in the food trade.
    The Terms of Reference of the Codex Committee on Food Additives 
are:
    (a) to establish or endorse permitted maximum levels for individual 
food additives;
    (b) to prepare priority lists of food additives for risk assessment 
by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives;
    (c) to assign functional classes to individual food additives;
    (d) to recommend specifications of identity and purity for food 
additives for adoption by the Commission;
    (e) to consider methods of analysis for the determination of 
additives in food; and
    (f) to consider and elaborate standards or codes for related 
subjects such as the labelling of food additives when sold as such.
    The CCFA is hosted by China and the meeting is attended by the 
United States as a member of the Codex Alimentarius.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following items on the agenda for the 53rd Session of the CCFA 
will be discussed during the public meeting (agenda item documents can 
be found on the Codex Alimentarius website at https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/meetings/detail/en/?meeting=CCFA&session=53):

 Matters Referred by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and 
other subsidiary bodies
 Matters of Interest arising from FAO/WHO and from the 92nd and 
95th Meetings of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives 
(JECFA)
 Proposed draft specifications for identity and purity of food 
additives arising from the 92nd and 95th JECFA meeting
 Endorsement and/or revision of maximum levels for food 
additives and processing aids in Codex standards
 Alignment of the food additive provisions of commodity 
standards: Report of the electronic working group (EWG) on Alignment
 General Standard for Food Additives (GSFA): Food additive 
provisions for colors in food categories 01.0 through 03.0 and 
subcategories including adopted provisions for colors with Note 161 and 
draft proposed draft provisions (outstanding from CCFA52)
 General Standard for Food Additives (GFSA): Report of the EWG 
on the GSFA
 General Standard for Food Additives (GFSA): Proposals for new 
and/or revision of food additive provisions (replies to circular letter 
(CL) 2021/55-FA)
 Status paper on all adopted food additive provisions in the 
GSFA for additives with sweetener function but not associated with Note 
161
 General information on the availability of data related to 
nitrates and nitrites (replies to CL 2021/82-FA)

[[Page 6697]]

 Information on commercial use of ortho-phenylphenol (INS 232) 
in food (replies to CL 2021/83-FA)
 Proposed draft revision to the International Numbering System 
(INS) for Food Additives (CAC/GL 36-1989) Proposals for additions and 
changes to the Priority List of Substances proposed for evaluation by 
JECFA (replies to CL 2021/81-FA)
 Discussion paper on mapping Food Categories of the GSFA to the 
FoodEx2 database
 Discussion paper on the food additive provision for the use of 
trisodium citrate in FC 01.1.1 ``Fluid milk (plain)''
 Discussion paper on the use of certain food additives in wine 
production
 Other Business and Future Work

Public Meeting

    At the public meeting on February 21, 2023, 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. Paul Honigfort, 
U.S. Delegate to the 53rd Session of the CCFA, at [email protected].

Additional Public Notification

    Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy 
development is important. Consequently, the U.S. Codex Office will 
announce this Federal Register publication on-line through the USDA 
Codex web page located at: http://www.usda.gov/codex, a link that also 
offers an email subscription service providing access to information 
related to Codex. Customers can add or delete their 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 https://www.usda.gov/oascr/filing-program-discrimination-complaint-usda-customer, 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 26, 2023.
Mary Frances Lowe,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 2023-02020 Filed 1-31-23; 8:45 am]
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