Congressional and Public Affairs
(202) 720-9113
Bridgette Keefe

WASHINGTON, March 15, 2004 - The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, today announced a public meeting to provide information and receive comments on agenda items to be discussed at the 33rd Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labeling (CCFL) in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, May 9-13, 2005.

The public meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 26, 2005, from 1-4 p.m., in Room 107A of the Jamie Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Ave, S.W., Washington, DC. Among the agenda items to be discussed are: Proposed Draft Guidelines for the Labeling of Foods Obtained Through Certain Techniques of Genetic Modification/Genetic Engineering; Country of Origin Labeling. A complete agenda for the meeting can be found at https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090305080318/http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.

At the April 26, 2005, public meeting, attendees will have the opportunity to pose questions and offer comments on the above agenda items.

Codex was created in 1962 by two United Nations organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization. Codex develops food standards, guidelines and codes of practice in order to protect the health of consumers, ensure fair practices in the food trade and promote coordination of food standards undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organizations.

For information concerning public meeting or for a sign language interpreter contact Ellen Matten, International Issues Analyst, U.S. Codex Office, FSIS, at (202) 205-7760 or by fax (202) 7230-3157.