64268 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 213 / Thursday, November 4, 2004 / Notices 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

Other (One-Time). 

Total Burden Hours: 986.

Sondra Blakey, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer.

[FR Doc. 04–24605 Filed 11–3–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–08–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. 04–116–1] 

Public Meeting; Veterinary Biologics

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Advance notice of public 

meeting and request for suggested 

agenda topics. 

SUMMARY: We are issuing this notice to 

inform producers and users of 

veterinary biological products, and 

other interested individuals, that we 

will be holding our 13th public meeting 

to discuss regulatory and policy issues 

related to the manufacture, distribution, 

and use of veterinary biological 

products. We are planning the meeting 

agenda and are requesting suggestions 

for topics of general interest to 

producers and other interested 

individuals.

DATES: The public meeting will be held 

from Wednesday, April 6, through 

Friday, April 8, 2005, from 1 p.m. to 

approximately 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 

8:30 a.m. to approximately 5 p.m. on 

Thursday, and from 8:30 a.m. to 

approximately noon on Friday.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be 

held in the Scheman Building at the 

Iowa State Center, Iowa State 

University, Ames, IA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information on agenda topics, 

contact Mr. Steven A. Karli, Director, 

Center for Veterinary Biologics, 

Veterinary Services, APHIS, 510 South 

17th Street, Suite 104, Ames, IA 50010–

8197; phone (515) 232–5785, fax (515) 

232–7120, or e-mail 

CVB@aphis.usda.gov. For registration 

information, contact Ms. Nicole 

Ruffcorn at the same address and fax 

number; phone (515) 232–5785 

extension 127; or e-mail 

Nicole.L.Ruffcorn@aphis.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Since 

1989, the Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) has held 12 

public meetings in Ames, IA, on 

veterinary biologics. The meetings 

provide an opportunity for the exchange 

of information between APHIS 

representatives, producers and users of 

veterinary biological products, and 

other interested individuals. APHIS is 

in the process of planning the agenda 

for the 13th such meeting, which will be 

held April 6 through April 8, 2005. 

The agenda for the meeting is not yet 

complete. Topics that have been 

suggested include: (1) Autogenous 

biologics and their role in the treatment/

prevention of disease; (2) transmissible 

spongiform encephalopathies and their 

impact on veterinary biologics 

production; (3) current Center for 

Veterinary Biologics activities; (4) 

updates on regulatory initiatives; and (5) 

novel vaccine technologies. Before 

finalizing the agenda, APHIS is seeking 

suggestions for additional meeting 

topics from the interested public. 

We would also like to invite 

interested individuals to use this 

meeting to present their ideas and 

suggestions concerning the licensing, 

manufacturing, testing, distribution, and 

regulation of products for the diagnosis, 

prevention, and treatment of diseases of 

animals. 

Please submit suggested meeting 

topics and proposed presentation titles 

to Mr. Steven A. Karli (see FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT above) on or 

before December 6, 2004. For proposed 

presentations, please include the 

name(s) of the presenter(s) and the 

approximate amount of time that will be 

needed for each presentation. 

After the agenda is finalized, APHIS 

will announce the agenda topics in the 

Federal Register.

Done in Washington, DC, this 1st day of 

November 2004. 

Elizabeth E. Gaston, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. E4–3008 Filed 11–3–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety Inspection Service 

[Docket No. 04–031C] 

Nominations for Membership on the 

National Advisory Committee on 

Microbiological Criteria for Foods

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection 

Service (FSIS), USDA.

ACTION: Correction.

SUMMARY: The Food Safety and 

Inspection Service published a 

document in the Federal Register on 

October 22, 2004, concerning 

Nominations for Membership on the 

National Advisory Committee on 

Microbiological Criteria for Foods. 

Correction: In the Federal Register of 

October 22, 2004, Volume 69, Number 

204, on page 62017, in the first 

paragraph and SUMMARY, the following 

sentence should have appeared: 

‘‘Persons from State and Federal 

governments, industry, consumer 

groups, and academia, as well as all 

other interested persons, are invited to 

submit nominations’’. Please note that 

‘‘consumer groups’’ and ‘‘all other 

interested parties’’ had been 

inadvertently omitted from the sentence 

that originally appeared. The Agency is 

publishing this corrected notice and 

will accept nominations 30 calendar 

days from the date of the publication of 

this corrected notice. 

This corrected notice announces that 

the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) is soliciting nominations for 

membership on the National Advisory 

Committee on Microbiological Criteria 

for Foods (NACMCF). Nominations for 

membership are being sought from 

individuals with scientific expertise in 

the fields of epidemiology, food 

technology, microbiology (food, clinical, 

and predictive), risk assessment, 

infectious disease, biostatistics, and 

other related sciences. Persons from 

State and Federal governments, 

industry, consumer groups, and 

academia, as well as all other interested 

persons, are invited to submit 

nominations. Members who are not 

Federal government employees will be 

appointed to serve as non-compensated 

special government employees (SGEs). 

SGEs will be subject to appropriate 

conflict of interest statutes and 

standards of ethical conduct.

DATES: The nominee’s typed resume or 

curriculum vitae must be received by 

December 4, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Nominations should be sent 

to Ms. Karen Thomas, Advisory 

Committee Specialist, USDA, Food 

Safety and Inspection Service, Room 

333 Aerospace Center, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–3700.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Karen Thomas, Advisory Committee 

Specialist, at the above address or by 

telephone 202–690–6620 or FAX 202–

690–6634.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The NACMCF was established in 

March 1988, in response to a 

recommendation in a 1985 report of the 

National Academy of Sciences 

Committee on Food Protection, 

Subcommittee on Microbiological 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 213 / Thursday, November 4, 2004 / Notices 64269

Criteria, ‘‘An Evaluation of the Role of 

Microbiological Criteria for Foods.’’ The 

current charter for the NACMCF and 

other information about the Committee 

are available for viewing on the 

NACMCF home page at http://

www.fsis.usda.gov/About_FSIS/

NACMCF/index.asp. 

The Committee provides scientific 

advice and recommendations to the 

Secretary of Agriculture and the 

Secretary of Health and Human Services 

concerning the development of 

microbiological criteria by which the 

safety and wholesomeness of food can 

be assessed. For example, the 

Committee assists in the development of 

criteria for microorganisms that indicate 

whether food has been processed using 

good manufacturing practices.

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 

Department. Membership shall include, 

to the extent practicable, individuals 

with demonstrated ability to represent 

minorities, women, and persons with 

disabilities. 

Given the complexity of issues, the 

full Committee expects to meet at least 

once yearly, and the meetings will be 

announced in the Federal Register. The 

subcommittees will meet as deemed 

necessary by the chairperson and will 

be held as working group meetings in an 

open public forum. The subcommittee 

meetings will not be announced in the 

Federal Register. FSIS will announce 

the agenda and subcommittee working 

group meetings through the Constituent 

Update available on-line at http://

www.fsis.usda.gov. NACMCF holds 

subcommittee working group meetings 

in order to accomplish the work of 

NACMCF; all work accomplished by the 

subcommittees is reviewed and 

approved by the full Committee during 

a public meeting of the full Committee, 

as announced in the Federal Register. 

The subcommittee 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 at the time the full 

Committee reviews and approves the 

work of the subcommittee. 

Appointment to the Advisory 

Committee is a two-year term; 

renewable for a total of three 

consecutive terms. 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; 

however, travel reimbursement and per 

diem are available. 

Regarding Nominees Who Are Selected 

All nominees who are selected must 

submit a USDA Advisory Committee 

Membership Background Information 

form AD–755, available on-line at:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FSISForms/

AD–755.pdf.

In particular to their appointment, 

SGEs must complete the Office of 

Government Ethics (OGE) 450 

Confidential Financial Disclosure 

Report, as new entrants before rendering 

any advice, or prior to their first 

meeting. All members will be reviewed 

for conflict of interest pursuant to 18 

U.S.C. 208 in relation to specific 

NACMCF work charges. Financial 

disclosure updates will be required of 

members before each meeting. Members 

must report any changes in financial 

holdings requiring additional 

disclosure. OGE 450 forms are available 

on-line at: http://www.usoge.gov/pages/

forms_pubs_otherdocs/fpo_files/forms/

fr450fill_03.pdf.

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 both on-line 

through the FSIS Web page located at 

http://www.fsis.usda.gov and the 

NACMCF Web page at http://

www.fsis.usda.gov/About_FSIS/

NACMCF/index.asp. 

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 e-mail 

subscription service consisting of 

industry, trade, and farm groups, 

consumer interest groups, allied health 

professionals, scientific professionals, 

and other individuals who have 

requested to be included. The update 

also 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.

Done in Washington, DC, on: October 29, 

2004. 

Richard Van Blargan, 

Acting Administrator.

[FR Doc. 04–24602 Filed 11–3–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration 

Official Barley Protein Measurement

AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Grain Inspection, Packers 

and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) 

is announcing its intent to provide 

official protein content measurement for 

barley using an Artificial Neural 

Network (ANN) calibration on the 

official near-infrared transmittance 

(NIRT) instruments. GIPSA will provide 

protein content measurement in barley 

as official criteria under the authority of 

the United States Grain Standards Act 

(USGSA).

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Steven N. Tanner, Director, Technical 

Services Division, GIPSA, USDA, 10383 

N. Ambassador Drive, Kansas City, 

Missouri 64153; telephone (816) 891–

0401; fax (816) 891–0478.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: GIPSA’s 

official inspection system has not 

previously offered an official test for 

barley protein content. Recently 

developed state-of-the-art Artificial 

Neural Network (ANN) calibration 

development techniques, allow for 

wheat and barley protein content to be 

determined with a greater degree of 

accuracy than was possible with more 

limited calibration approaches. GIPSA 

will begin using an ANN calibration for 

official wheat protein content 

measurement in May 2005 (69 FR 

52645). 

The barley protein content testing 

service will be available, upon request 

of an interested person, as official 

criteria for barley, under the authority of 

the USGSA, as amended. 

Therefore, to better facilitate the 

marketing of barley, and provide official 

barley protein testing to producers and 

other interested parties on a voluntary 

basis, GIPSA is establishing a new 

official criteria, available upon request, 

to determine the protein content of 

barley. GIPSA believes offering this 

service will facilitate the marketing of 

malting barley, by providing a fair, 

accurate and transparent third party