[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 16, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3538-3539]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-1157]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. 00-053N]


Codex Alimentarius Commission: Meeting of the Codex Committees on 
Fats and Oils and Methods of Analysis and Sampling

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 Food and Drug Administration 
(FDA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are 
sponsoring a public meeting on Wednesday, January 17, 2001. The 
objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive 
public comments on agenda items and draft United States' positions that 
will be discussed at two upcoming Codex Committee meetings. The Under 
Secretary for Food Safety and FDA recognize the importance of providing 
interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on 
the Sessions of the Codex Committee on Fats and Oils (CCFO) and the 
Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) and to 
address items on the agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 17, 2001, 
from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in Room 1813, Federal Office 
Building 8, Food and Drug Administration, 200 C Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20204. To receive copies of the documents referenced in 
this notice, contact the FSIS Docket Room, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Room 102 Cotton Annex, 
300 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20250-3700. The documents will 
also be accessible via the world wide web at the following address: 
http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/economic/esn/codex.
    Submit one original and two copies of written comments to the FSIS 
Docket Room at the address above and reference docket number 00-053N. 
All comments submitted in response to this notice will be available for 
public inspection in the FSIS Docket Room between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 
p.m., Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick J. Clerkin, Assistant U.S. 
Manager for Codex, U.S. Codex Office, FSIS, Room 4861, South 
Agriculture Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC 20250. Telephone (202) 205-7760; Fax (202) 720-3157. 
Persons requiring a sign language interpreter or other special 
accommodations should notify Mr. Clerkin at the above number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Codex Alimentarius Commission (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 encouraging fair international 
trade in food and protecting the health and economic interests of 
consumers. 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.
    The public meeting announced in this notice will provide 
information and an opportunity for public comment on two upcoming Codex 
Committee meetings:
    <bullet> Seventeenth Session of the Codex Committee on Fats and 
Oils (CCFO) that will be held in London, United Kingdom, February 19-
23, 2001.

[[Page 3539]]

    <bullet> Twenty-third Session of the Codex Committee on Methods of 
Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) that will be held in Budapest, Hungary, 
February 26-March 2, 2001.
    The CCFO was established to elaborate worldwide standards for fats 
and oils and their products. The CCMAS performs multiple functions such 
as defining criteria appropriate to Codex methods of analysis and 
sampling, specifying reference methods of analysis and sampling, 
endorsing methods of analysis and sampling proposed by the Codex 
Committees, elaborating sampling plans, and considering specific 
sampling and analysis problems. The Government of the United Kingdom 
will chair the CCFO meeting and the Government of Hungary will chair 
the CCMAS meeting.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

    The U.S. delegate for the Codex Committee on Methods Analysis and 
Sampling will discuss the following subjects at the public meeting from 
9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

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             Agenda item                                Subject matter                      Document reference
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1....................................  Adoption of the Agenda..........................
2....................................  Matters referred to the committee...............  CX/MAS 01/2.
3....................................  Proposed draft general guidelines on sampling at  CX/MAS 01/3.
                                        step 4.
4....................................  Criteria for evaluating acceptable methods of     CX/MAS 01/4.
                                        analysis for Codex purposes.
                                       (a) Proposed draft guidelines on the application  CX/MAS 01/4, Add. 1.
                                        of the criteria approach at step 4.
                                       (b) Amendments to the procedural manual of the    ALINORM 99/23, Appendix
                                        Codex Alimentarius Commission relevant to the     II.
                                        criteria approach.
                                       --Principles for the establishment of Codex
                                        methods of analysis and sampling.
                                       --Relations between commodity committees and
                                        general committees.
5....................................  Consideration of harmonized guidelines for the    CX/MAS, 01/6.
                                        use of recovery information in analytical
                                        measurements.
6....................................  Harmonization of analytical terminology in        CX/MAS, 01/7.
                                        accordance with international standards:
                                        ``measurement limits''.
7....................................  Measurement uncertainty.........................
                                       (a) Progress report by relevant Organizations...
                                       (b) Relationship between the analytical result,   CX/MAS, 01/8.
                                        the measurement uncertainty and the
                                        specification in the Codex standard.
8....................................  In-house method validation......................  CX/MAS, 01/9.
9....................................  Endorsement of methods of analysis provisions in  CX/MAS, 01/10.
                                        Codex standards.
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    The U.S. delegate for the Codex Committee on Fats and Oils will 
discuss the following subjects at the public meeting from 10:30 a.m. to 
12:00 noon.

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             Agenda item                                Subject matter                      Document reference
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1....................................  Adoption of the Agenda..........................
2....................................  Matters referred to the Committee...............  CX/FO, 01/2.
3....................................  Draft revised standard for olive oils and olive   CL 2000/32-FO.
                                        pomace oils at step 7.
4....................................  Proposed draft amendments to the standard for     CL 2000/25-FO, CL 2000/
                                        named vegetable oils (including provisions for    25 A, FO.
                                        high oleic acid safflower oil and high oleic
                                        sunflower oil at step 4).
5....................................  Proposed draft standard for fat spreads and       ALINORM 99/1, Appendix
                                        blended spreads at step 3.                        VI.
6....................................  Proposed draft amendment to the code of practice  CL 2000/26-FO, Part I
                                        for the storage and transport of edible fats      and II.
                                        and oils in bulk: lists of acceptable previous
                                        cargoes and lists of banned immediate previous
                                        cargoes at step 4.
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Additional Public Notification

    Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy 
development is important. Consequently, in an effort to better ensure 
that minorities, women, and persons with disabilities are aware of this 
notice, FSIS will announce it and provide copies of this Federal 
Register publication in the FSIS Constituent Update. FSIS provides a 
weekly FSIS Constituent Update, which is communicated via fax to over 
300 organizations and individuals. In addition, the update is available 
on-line through the FSIS web page located at http://www.fsis.usda.gov. 
The update is used to provide information regarding FSIS policies, 
procedures, regulations, Federal Register notices, FSIS public 
meetings, recalls, and any other types of information that could affect 
or would be of interest to our constituents/stakeholders. The 
constituent fax list consists of industry, trade, and farm groups, 
consumer interest groups, allied health professionals, scientific 
professionals, and other individuals that have requested to be 
included. Through these various channels, FSIS is able to provide 
information to a much broader, more diverse audience. For more 
information and to be added to the constituent fax list, fax your 
request to the Congressional and Public Affairs Office, at (202) 720-
5704.

    Done at Washington, DC, on: January 9, 2001.
F. Edward Scarbrough,
U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.
[FR Doc. 01-1157 Filed 1-12-01; 8:45 am]
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