[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 24 (Monday, February 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7676-7678]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02395]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2022-0034]


National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for 
Foods; Membership Nominations

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), U.S. Department of 
Agriculture (USDA).

ACTION: Notice; soliciting nominations.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the provisions of the rules and regulations of the 
USDA and the Federal Advisory Committee

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Act (FACA), the USDA is soliciting nominations for membership on the 
National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods 
(NACMCF). There are 15 vacancies. Advisory Committee members serve a 
two-year term that will begin September 2023 through September 2025. 
Members may be reappointed for one additional consecutive term at the 
discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture.

DATES: All nomination packages must be received by March 15, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Nomination packages should be sent by email to 
[email protected], or mailed to: The Honorable Thomas Vilsack, Secretary, 
U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Room 1131, 
South Building, Attn: FSIS\OPHS\National Advisory Committee on 
Microbiological Criteria for Foods (John Jarosh), Washington, DC 20250.
    Docket: For access to documents, call (202) 205-0495 to schedule a 
time to visit the FSIS Docket Room at 1400 Independence Avenue SW, 
Washington, DC 20250-3700.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Jarosh, Designated Federal 
Officer, by telephone at 510-671-4397, by email to [email protected] or 
by mail to: John Jarosh, USDA, FSIS, Office of Public Health Science, 
1400 Independence Avenue SW, Room 1131, Washington, DC 20250.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: USDA is seeking NACMCF nominees with 
scientific expertise in the fields of microbiology, risk assessment, 
epidemiology, public health, food science, and other relevant 
disciplines, in order to obtain the scientific perspective, expertise, 
experience and point-of-view of all stakeholders. USDA is seeking 
nominations for NACMCF from persons in academia, industry, and State 
governments, as well as all other interested persons with the required 
expertise. Members can serve on only one USDA Advisory Committee at a 
time.
    All nominees will undergo a USDA background check. Any member who 
is not a Federal government employee will be appointed to serve as a 
non-compensated special government employee (SGE). SGEs will be subject 
to appropriate conflict of interest statutes and standards of ethical 
conduct. Applicants that are federally registered lobbyists will not be 
considered for USDA's NACMCF.
    Nominations for membership on the NACMCF must be addressed to the 
Secretary of Agriculture and accompanied by a cover letter addressing 
the nomination. Additionally, a resume or curriculum vitae and a 
completed USDA Advisory Committee Membership Background Information 
form AD-755 (available online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-755.pdf) must be included with the nomination. The 
resume or curriculum vitae must be limited to five one-sided pages and 
should include educational background, expertise, and a list of select 
publications, if available, that confirm the nominee's expertise for 
the related work. Any submissions with more than the prescribed five 
one-sided pages in length will have only the first five pages reviewed. 
A person may self-nominate, or a nomination can be made on behalf of 
someone else.

Background

    The NACMCF provides impartial scientific advice, and peer reviews 
to Federal food safety agencies for use in the development of an 
integrated national food safety systems approach that assures the 
safety of domestic, imported, and exported foods.
    The NACMCF is a discretionary advisory committee that was 
established in 1988, by the Secretary of Agriculture, and after 
consulting with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and 
Human Services, in response to the recommendations of two external 
organizations. The National Academy of Sciences recommended an 
interagency approach to microbiological criteria, since various 
federal, State, and local agencies are responsible for food safety. 
Also, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations 
made a similar recommendation in the Rural Development, Agriculture, 
and Related Agencies Appropriation Bill for fiscal year 1988. The 
charter for the NACMCF is available for viewing at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/policy/advisory-committees/national-advisory-committee-microbiological-criteria-foods-nacmcf. 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 
U.S. Departments of Commerce and Defense. For example, one of the most 
recent efforts of the Committee was to provide the best scientific 
information available on `Enhancing Salmonella Control in Poultry.' The 
Committee is currently addressing `Cronobacter spp. In Powdered Infant 
Formula' and anticipates an FSIS charge related to the benefits of 
genomic characterization of pathogens.
    The Committee reports to the Secretary of Agriculture through the 
Under Secretary for Food Safety, the Committee's Chair, and to the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services through the Assistant Secretary 
for Health, the Committee's Vice-Chair. Currently, Dr. Jos[eacute] 
Emilio Esteban, 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 (CFSAN), 
is the Vice-Chair; and Mr. John J. Jarosh, FSIS, is the Director of the 
NACMCF Secretariat and Designated Federal Officer.
    Appointments to the Committee will be made by the Secretary of 
Agriculture after consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services to ensure that recommendations made by the Committee take into 
account the needs of the diverse groups served by the USDA.
    The full Committee expects to meet at least once a year, virtually 
or in person, and the meetings will be announced in advance in the 
Federal Register. NACMCF holds subcommittee meetings in order to 
accomplish the work of the Committee; all subcommittee work is reviewed 
and approved during a public meeting of the full Committee, as 
announced in the Federal Register. The subcommittees will meet as 
deemed necessary by the subcommittee chairperson in an open public 
forum. Subcommittees may also meet virtually. The subcommittee meetings 
will not be announced in the Federal Register; however, FSIS will 
announce the agenda and subcommittee meetings through the FSIS 
Constituent Update, available online at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/cu. 
Subcommittees may invite technical experts to present information for 
consideration by the subcommittee. All data and records available to 
the full Committee are expected to be available to the public after the 
full Committee has reviewed and approved the work of the subcommittee.
    Advisory committee members are expected to attend all scheduled 
meetings during their two-year term to ensure the smooth functioning of 
the advisory committee. Members must be prepared to work outside of 
scheduled Committee and subcommittee meetings and may be required to 
assist in document preparation. Committee members serve on a voluntary 
basis;

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however, travel expenses and per diem reimbursements are available when 
in person meetings occur.

Regarding Nominees Who Are Selected

    All SGE and Federal government employee nominees who are selected 
must complete the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) 450 Confidential 
Financial Disclosure Report before rendering any advice or before their 
first meeting. All Committee members will be reviewed pursuant to 18 
U.S.C. 208 for conflicts of interest relating to specific NACMCF work 
charges, and financial disclosure updates will be required annually. 
Members subject to financial disclosure must report any changes in 
financial holdings requiring additional disclosure. OGE 450 forms are 
available on-line at: https://www.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/ethicsofficials_financial-disc.

Documents and Comments

    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 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 on-line through the FSIS web page located at: 
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/federal-register.
    FSIS will also announce and provide a link to it 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 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

    In accordance with Federal civil rights law and USDA civil rights 
regulations and policies, USDA, its Mission Areas, agencies, staff 
offices, employees, and institutions participating in or administering 
USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, 
national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender 
expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, 
family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance 
program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil 
rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA 
(not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing 
deadlines vary by program or incident.
    Program information may be made available in languages other than 
English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of 
communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large 
print, audiotape, American Sign Language) should contact the 
responsible Mission Area, agency, or staff office; the USDA TARGET 
Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY); or the Federal Relay Service 
at (800) 877-8339.
    To file a program discrimination complaint, a complainant should 
complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, 
which can be obtained online at https://www.ocio.usda.gov/document/ad-3027, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a 
letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant's 
name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the 
alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the 
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date 
of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or 
letter must be submitted to USDA by:
    (1) Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant 
Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 
20250-9410; or
    (2) Fax: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
    (3) Email: [email protected].
    USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

    Dated: February 1, 2023.
Cikena Reid,
USDA Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023-02395 Filed 2-3-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P