[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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