[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 8, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1196-1197]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-00169]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
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. 78, No. 5 / Tuesday, January 8, 2013 /
Notices
[[Page 1196]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. FSIS-2012-0052]
Codex Alimentarius Commission: Meeting of the Ad Hoc Codex
Intergovernmental Task Force on Animal Feeding
AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Center for Veterinary
Medicine (CVM), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are sponsoring a
public meeting on January 17, 2013. The objective of the public meeting
is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items
and draft United States (U.S.) positions that will be discussed at the
7th Session of the Ad Hoc Codex Intergovernmental Task Force on Animal
Feeding (AFTF) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will
be held in Berne, Switzerland, February 4-8, 2013. The Under Secretary
for Food Safety and the Center for Veterinary Medicine, Food and Drug
Administration, recognize the importance of providing interested
parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 7th
Session of the AFTF and to address items on the agenda.
DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Thursday January 17, 2013,
from 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in the Jamie L. Whitten
Building, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 1400
Independence Avenue SW., Room 107-A, Washington, DC 20250. Documents
related to the 7th Session of the AFTF will be accessible via the World
Wide Web at the following address: http://www.codexalimentarius.org/meetings-reports/en/
Dr. Daniel McChesney, U.S. Delegate to the 7th Session of the AFTF,
invites U.S. interested parties to submit their comments electronically
to the following email address Daniel.McChesney@fda.hhs.gov and
uscodex@fsis.usda.gov.
Call-In Number
If you wish to participate in the public meeting for the 7th
session of the AFTF by conference call, please use the call-in number
and participant code listed below.
Call-in Number: 1 (888) 858-2144.
Participant Code: 6208658.
For Further Information About the 7th Session of the AFTF Contact:
Dr. Daniel G. McChesney, Director, Office of Surveillance and
Compliance, Center for Veterinary Medicine, FDA, 7529 Standish Place,
Rockville, MD 20855 Phone: (240) 453-6830, Fax: (240) 453-6880, Email:
Daniel.McChesney@fda.hhs.gov.
For Further Information About the Public Meeting Contact: Doreen
Chen-Moulec, U.S. Codex Office, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Room
4861, Washington, DC 20250, Phone: (202) 205-7760, Fax: (202) 720-3157,
E-mail: uscodex@fsis.usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Codex 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 that fair practices are
used in trade.
The AFTF is responsible for:
(a) The development of guidelines, intended for governments on how
to apply the existing Codex risk assessment methodologies to the
various types of hazards related to contaminants/residues in feed
ingredients, including feed additives used in feeding stuffs for food
producing animals. The guidelines should include specific science-based
risk assessment criteria to apply to feed contaminants/residues. These
criteria should be consistent with existing Codex methodologies.
The guidelines should also consider the need to address the
establishment of rates of transfer and accumulation from feed to edible
tissues in animal-derived products according to the characteristics of
the hazard.
The guidelines should be drawn up in such a way as to enable
countries to prioritize and assess risks based upon local conditions,
use, exposure of animals and the impact, if any, on human health.
(b) Develop a prioritized list of hazards in feed ingredients and
feed additives for governmental use. The list should contain hazards of
international relevance that are reasonably likely to occur, and are
thus likely to warrant future attention.
In doing so, due consideration should be given to the prioritized
list of hazards as recommended by the FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Animal
Feed Impact on Food Safety. Clear criteria should be used to prioritize
the list of hazards and take account of the potential transfer of
contaminants/residues in feed to edible animal products (e.g. meat,
fish meat, milk and eggs).
The Committee is hosted by Switzerland.
Issues to be Discussed at the Public Meeting
The following items on the agenda for the 7th Session of the AFTF
will be discussed during the public meeting:
Matters referred to the AFTF by Codex and other Codex
committees and task forces
Report on activities of FAO, WHO and other international
intergovernmental organizations
Draft guidelines on application of risk assessment for
feed
Proposed draft guidance for use by governments in
prioritizing the national feed hazards
Each issue listed will be fully described in documents distributed,
or to be distributed, by the Secretariat prior to the meeting. Members
of the public may access copies of these documents (see ADDRESSES).
Public Meeting
At the January 17, 2013, public meeting, draft U.S. positions on
the agenda items will be described and discussed, and attendees will
have the
[[Page 1197]]
opportunity to pose questions and offer comments. Written comments may
be offered at the meeting or sent to Daniel McChesney, U.S. Delegate
for the 7th Session of the AFTF (see ADDRESSES). Written comments
should state that they relate to activities of the 7th Session of the
AFTF.
Additional Public Notification
FSIS will announce this notice online through the FSIS Web page
located at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations_&_policies/Federal_Register_Notices/index.asp.
FSIS will also 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, and other types of information
that could affect or would be of interest to constituents and
stakeholders. The Update is communicated via Listserv, a free
electronic mail subscription service for industry, trade groups,
consumer interest groups, health professionals, and other individuals
who have asked to be included. The Update is also available on the FSIS
Web page. In addition, FSIS offers an electronic mail 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/News_&_Events/Email_Subscription/. Options range
from recalls to export information to regulations, directives, and
notices. Customers can add or delete subscriptions themselves, and have
the option to password protect their accounts.
USDA Nondiscrimination Statement
USDA prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on
the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age,
disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or
family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.)
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for
communication of program information (Braille, large print, or
audiotape.) should contact USDA's Target Center at 202-720-2600 (voice
and TTY).
To file a written complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Office
of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue
SW., Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964 (voice and TTY).
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
Done at Washington, DC on: December 21, 2012.
MaryFrances Lowe,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 2013-00169 Filed 1-7-13; 8:45 am]
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