[Federal Register: March 15, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 49)]
[Notices]
[Page 12647-12648]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15mr05-26]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. 05-001N]
Codex Alimentarius Commission: 33rd Session of the Codex
Committee on Food Labelling
AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), United States Department of Health and Human
Services, are sponsoring a public meeting on April 26, 2005, to provide
draft U.S. positions and receive public comments on agenda items that
will be discussed at the 33rd Session of the Codex Committee on Food
Labelling (CCFL) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which
will be held in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, May 9-13, 2005. The Under
Secretary and FDA recognize the importance of providing interested
parties with the opportunity to comment on the agenda items that will
be debated at this forthcoming session of the CCFL.
DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 26, 2005,
from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in Room 107A, Jamie Whitten
Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC.
Documents related to the 33rd Session of the CCFL will be
accessible via the World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp
.
FSIS invites interested persons to submit comments on this notice.
Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
Mail, including floppy disks or CD-ROMs, and hand- or
courier-delivered items: Send to the FSIS Docket Clerk, U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, 300 12th Street,
SW., Room 102, Cotton Annex, Washington, DC 20730. All comments
received must include the Agency name and docket number 05-001N.
All comments submitted in response to this notice will be available
for public inspection in the FSIS Docket Room at the address listed
above between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The
comments also will be posted on the Agency's Web site at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/2005_Notices_Index/
.
Participation by Conference Call: A call-in number has been
arranged: 1-888-422-7105; participant code 162347.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: About the 33rd Session of the CCFL:
U.S. Delegate, Leslye Fraser, J.D., Director, Office of Regulations and
Policy, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA, 5100 Paint
Branch Parkway (HFS-004), College Park, MD 20740, telephone: (301) 436-
2378; facsimile: (301) 436-2637. Electronic mail:
leslye.fraser@fda.hhs.gov.
About the Public Meeting: Ellen Matten, International Issues
Analyst, U.S. Codex Office, FSIS, Room 4861, South Building, 1400
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250, telephone: (202) 205-
7760; facsimile: (202) 720-3157.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Codex Alimentarius (Codex) was established in 1962 by two
United Nations organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Codex is the major
international organization for protecting the health and economic
interests of consumers and encouraging fair international trade in
food. 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 ensure that the
world's food supply is sound, wholesome, free from adulteration, and
correctly labeled. In the United States, USDA, FDA, and the
Environmental Protection Agency manage and carry out U.S. Codex
activities.
The Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL) drafts provisions on
labelling applicable to all foods; considers, amends, if necessary, and
endorses specific provisions on labelling of draft standards, codes of
practice, and guidelines prepared by other Codex committees; studies
specific labelling problems assigned to it by the Commission; and
studies problems associated with the advertisement of food with
particular reference to claims and misleading descriptions. The CCFL is
chaired by Canada.
[[Page 12648]]
Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting
The following items on the agenda for the 33rd Session of the CCFL
will be discussed during the public meeting:
Matters referred to the Committee from other Codex bodies.
Endorsement of labelling provisions of draft commodity
standards.
Proposed Draft Guidelines for the Labelling of Foods
Obtained Through Certain Techniques of Genetic Modification/Genetic
Engineering: Labelling Provisions and Definitions.
Country-of-origin labelling.
Discussion paper on advertising.
Proposed Draft Amendment to the General Standard for the
Labelling of Prepackaged Foods (Quantitative Ingredient Declaration).
Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed,
or to be distributed, by the Canadian Secretariat to the Meeting.
Members of the public may access or request copies of these documents
(see ADDRESSES).
Public Meeting
At the April 26, 2005, public meeting, draft U.S. positions on
these agenda items will be described, discussed, and attendees will
have the opportunity to pose questions and offer comments. Written
comments may be offered at the meeting or sent to the U.S. Delegate for
the 33rd Session of the CCFL, Leslye Fraser, J.D., (see ADDRESSES).
Written comments should state that they relate to activities of the
33rd Session of the CCFL.
Additional Public Notification
Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy
development is important. Consequently, in an effort to ensure that the
public and, in particular, minorities, women, and persons with
disabilities are aware of this notice, FSIS will announce it on-line
through the FSIS Web page located at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/2005_Notices_Index/
.
FSIS also will make copies of this Federal Register publication
available through the FSIS Constituent Update, which is used to provide
information regarding FSIS policies, procedures, regulations, Federal
Register notices, FSIS public meetings, recalls, and other types of
information that could affect or would be of interest to our
constituents and stakeholders. The update is communicated via Listserv,
a free electronic mail subscription service for industry, trade, and
farm groups, consumer interest groups, allied health professionals,
scientific professionals, and other individuals who have requested to
be included. The update is available on the FSIS Web page. Through
Listserv and the Web page, FSIS is able to provide information to a
much broader, more diverse audience.
In addition, FSIS offers an electronic mail subscription service
which provides an automatic and customized notification when popular
pages are updated, including Federal Register publications and related
documents. This service is available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/news_and_events/email_subscription/
and allows FSIS customers to sign up
for subscription options across eight categories. Options range from
recalls to export information to regulations, directives, and notices.
Customers can add or delete subscriptions themselves and have the
option to protect their accounts with passwords.
Done in Washington, DC, on March 9, 2005.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 05-4996 Filed 3-14-05; 8:45 am]