[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 13, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10021-10022]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02913]


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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 March 
19, 2024. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information 
and receive public comments on agenda items and draft U.S. positions to 
be discussed at the 54th Session of the Codex Committee on Food 
Additives (CCFA) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. CCFA54 will 
convene in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, People's Republic of China from 
April 22-26, 2024. 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 54th Session of the CCFA and to 
address items on the agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for March 19, 2024, from 9 a.m. 
to 12 p.m. EDT.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will take place in a hybrid format. The 
on-site location is Meeting Room 1A-001 and 1A-002 at the Center for 
Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 
Harvey Wiley Federal Building, 5001 Campus Drive, College Park, MD 
20740-3835. Documents related to the 54th Session of the CCFA will be 
accessible via the internet at the following address: https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/meetings/detail/it/?meeting=CCFA&session=54.
    Dr. Daniel Folmer, U.S. Alternate Delegate to the 54th 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 here: https://fda.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIscuqvqTwiGKBCWt0kic2WOMeTXzyGcdo. 
Attendees should register by March 14, 2024. After registering, you 
will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining 
the meeting. For further information about the public meeting, contact 
the U.S. Codex Office by email at: [email protected] or Dr. LaShonda 
Cureton by phone at (240) 402-1351 or by email at 
[email protected].
    For further information about the 54th session of CCFA, contact 
U.S. Alternate Delegate, Dr. Daniel Folmer, by phone at (240) 402-1274 
or by email at [email protected], or Dr. LaShonda Cureton by 
phone at (240) 402-1351 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 
(CCFA) 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. The United States attends the CCFA as 
a member country of Codex.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The following items on the agenda for the 54th Session of the CCFA 
will be discussed during the public meeting:

 Matters Referred by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and 
other subsidiary bodies
 Matters of Interest arising from FAO/WHO and from the 96th and 
97th 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 96th and 97th JECFA meetings
 Endorsement and/or revision of maximum levels for food 
additives

[[Page 10022]]

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 (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) 2023/46-FA)
 Proposed draft revision to the Class Names and the 
International Numbering System for Food Additives (CXG 36-1989)
 Proposals for additions and changes to the Priority List of 
Substances proposed for evaluation by JECFA (replies to CL 2023/47-FA)
 Discussion paper on divergence between the General Standard 
for Food Additives (GSFA), Codex commodity standards and other texts- 
Identification of outstanding issues
 Discussion paper on the development of a standard for yeast
 Other Business and Future Work

Public Meeting

    At the public meeting on March 19, 2024, 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. Daniel Folmer, 
U.S. Alternate Delegate to the 54th 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 February 5, 2024.
Mary Frances Lowe,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 2024-02913 Filed 2-12-24; 8:45 am]
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