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.

Notices Federal Register

30682

Vol. 66, No. 110

Thursday, June 7, 2001

1FSIS is filing this notice for immediate public

inspection on June 5, 2001 because FSIS was not

able to publish notification in advance of this

public meeting in the Federal Register due to late

changes to the agenda.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. 01–017N]

Codex Alimentarius Commission: 24th

Session of the Codex Alimentarius

Commission (Codex)

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary

for Food Safety, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting,

request for comments.

SUMMARY: The Office of the Under

Secretary for Food Safety, U.S.

Department of Agriculture (USDA), is

sponsoring a public meeting on June

6th, 2001.1 The purpose of this meeting

is to provide information and receive

public comments on agenda items that

will be discussed at the Twenty-fourth

Session of the Codex Alimentarius

Commission, which will be held in

Geneva, Switzerland from July 2–7,

2001. The Under Secretary recognizes

the importance of providing interested

parties with information about the

Codex Alimentarius Commission.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled

for June 6, 2001, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be

held in the Franklin-Adams Room at the

Washington Plaza Hotel, 10 Thomas

Circle, Washington, DC. 20005. To

review copies of the documents

referenced in this notice, contact the

Food Safety and Inspection Service

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.codexalimentarius.net/cac24/

docliste.htm. Submit one original and

two copies of written comments to the

FSIS Docket Room at the address above

and reference docket number 01–017N.

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: F.

Edward Scarbrough, Ph.D., U.S.

Manager for Codex Alimentarius, U.S.

Codex Office, Food Safety and

Inspection Service, Room 4861, South

Building, 1400 Independence Avenue

SW, Washington, DC 20250; Telephone

(202) 205–7760, Fax: (202) 720–3157.

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.

Codex meets biennially. The Executive

Committee serves as the executive body

of Codex between the biennial meetings.

The provisional agenda items and the

relevant documents to be discussed

during the public meeting are:

1. Election of Officers of the

Commission and appointment of

Regional Coordinators, Document

ALINORM 01/2

2. Report by the Chairperson on the

Forty-seventh and Forty-eighth Sessions

of the Executive Committee, Documents

ALINORM 01/3 and ALINORM 01/4

3. Report on the financial situation of

the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards

Programme for 2000/01 and 2002/03,

Document ALINORM 01/5

4. Report by the Secretariat on

relations between the Codex

Alimentarius Commission and, (a) Other

international intergovernmental

organizations Part I, (b) International

non-governmental organizations Part II,

Document ALINORM 01/8

5. Consideration of matters arising

from FAO and WHO Conferences and

Governing Bodies, Document ALINORM

01/7

6. Consideration of the Draft Strategic

Framework, Proposed Draft Medium

Term Plan 2003–2007 and Chairperson’s

Action Plan, Document ALINORM 01/6

7. Risk analysis policies of the Codex

Alimentarius Commission, Document

ALINORM 01/9

8. Consideration of proposed

amendments to the Procedural Manual

of the Codex Alimentarius Commission,

Document ALINORM 01/10

9. Consideration of Codex standards

and related texts, (a) Draft standards and

related texts at Step 8 or equivalent Part

I, (b) Proposed draft standards and

related texts at Step 5 Part II, (c)

Proposals to elaborate new standards

and/or related texts Part III, Document

ALINORM 01/21

10. Matters arising from reports of

Codex Committees and Task Forces Part

IV, Document ALINORM 01/21

11. Codex Committees and ad hoc

Task Forces, (a) Designation of Host

Governments Part I, (b) Proposed

schedule of Codex Sessions 2002–2003,

Document ALINORM 01/16

Public Meeting

At the June 6th public meeting, the

agenda items will be described and

discussed, and attendees will hear brief

descriptions of the issues and will have

the opportunity to pose questions and

offer comments.

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

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 110 / Thursday, June 7, 2001 / Notices 30683

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 May 24, 2001.

F. Edward Scarbrough,

U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.

[FR Doc. 01–14473 Filed 6–5–01; 1:59 pm]

BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. 00–035N]

FSIS—A Public Health Approach to

Processing Inspection

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection

Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting;

request for comments.

SUMMARY: The Food Safety and

Inspection Service (FSIS) will hold a

public meeting, which is intended to be

the first in a series, on an FSIS initiative

to improve its inspection of processed

meat and poultry products. At the first

meeting, the Agency will provide an

overview of the Agency’s use of risk

analysis in protecting public health. The

Agency will also review its Strategic

Plan for 2000–2005, and discuss its

view of the key attributes of a public

health regulatory agency. The Agency

will then discuss the next steps that it

proposes to take to develop an

inspection system that minimizes the

risks from processed products while

making optimal use of processing

inspection resources, and will invite

comments on these next steps and on

how best to achieve the Agency’s

objectives.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled

for June 7, 2001, from 9:00 am to 4:00

pm.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at

the Holiday Inn—Capitol, 550 ‘‘C’’

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20024.

Comments: FSIS welcomes comments

at any time on the topics to be discussed

at the public meeting, and particularly

on the Agency’s strategic plan. Please

send an original and two copies of

comments to the Food Safety and

Inspection Service Docket Clerk: Docket

#00–035N, Room 102 Cotton Annex

Building, 300 12th Street, SW.,

Washington, DC 20250. Comments may

also be sent by facsimile to (202) 205–

0381. The comments and the official

transcript of the meeting, when it

becomes available, will be kept in the

Docket Clerk’s office at the above

address. FSIS has made copies of the

FSIS Strategic Plan for 2000–2005

available in the docket room and on the

FSIS website at ‘‘http://

www.fsis.usda.gov/OM/planning/

sp2005.htm’’. Copies will also be

available at the meeting.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.

Jane Roth, Director, Program Evaluation

and Improvement Staff, Office of Policy,

Program Development and Evaluation,

at (202) 720–6735. Registration for the

meeting will be on-site. Persons

requiring a sign language interpreter or

other special accommodation should

notify Ms. Sheila Johnson at (202) 690–

6498 by June 1, 2001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

FSIS administers the Federal Meat

Inspection Act, the Poultry Products

Inspection Act, and the Egg Products

Inspection Act. The Agency’s activities

are intended to prevent the distribution

in interstate or foreign commerce, for

human food purposes, of adulterated or

misbranded meat, poultry, and egg

products, including products that may

transmit diseases or that may be

otherwise injurious to health.

In recent years, the Agency has placed

increased emphasis on its public health

protection role. Throughout the 1990’s,

the Agency’s most important goal was

an improved food safety inspection

system, exemplified by the Pathogen

Reduction/Hazard Analysis and Critical

Control Point (PR/HACCP) regulations

which were fully implemented last year.

FSIS has consistently sought the

enhancement of public health by

minimizing foodborne illness from

meat, poultry, and egg products. The

Agency has worked toward achieving

this by measures intended to reduce

pathogens on raw products, by

strengthening relationships with public

health agencies at the Federal and State

levels, food safety information and

training at every point in the food

production and marketing chain, and by

promoting international cooperation in

the field of food safety.

The Agency’s Strategic Plan for 2000–

2005 proposes that FSIS continue to

focus its operations and resources on

food safety and continue to strengthen

the scientific basis for its regulatory

activities and initiatives.

FSIS wants the views, suggestions and

comments of all of its food safety

constituencies, and the general public

on the approaches it is considering or

should consider to achieve its mission.

Public Meeting

At the first public meeting, on June 7,

2001, FSIS officials will review the

Agency’s Strategic Plan for 2000–2005,

and will discuss the basic public health

objectives and the strategy for achieving

these objectives. They will also discuss

the role of risk analysis especially with

respect to the optimal use of processing

inspection resources; the next steps that

FSIS proposes to take toward

minimizing the risk to consumers of

foodborne illness; and the coordination

of the Agency’s efforts with

international authorities, other Federal

agencies, and State and local

authorities. Finally, the Agency will

open the discussion and solicit

comment from the attendees.

The following summarizes the major

themes that will be discussed at the first

meeting.

FSIS Strategic Plan 2000–2005

In its Strategic Plan for 2000–2005,

FSIS has proposed a long-range program

for protecting the public health by

improving the Agency’s effectiveness as

a public health regulatory agency. In

order to do this, the Agency has

established as its strategic goal the

protection of the public health by

significantly reducing the prevalence of

foodborne hazards from meat, poultry,

and egg products. To achieve this goal,

the Agency will use the risk analysis

model—consisting of risk-assessment,

risk-management, and riskcommunication segments—

recommended by the National Academy

of Sciences to regulatory agencies. This

model is reflected in the objectives the

Agency seeks to meet in achieving its

strategic goal.

The first objective is to provide

national and international leadership by

building within the Agency a risk

assessment capability, supported by the

latest research and technology, that can

be applied to meat, poultry, and egg

products. Risk assessment will help the

Agency improve its operations to better

ensure the safety of meat, poultry, and

egg products. Better risk assessment is

needed to strengthen the scientific basis

for food safety polices and regulatory

decisions.

The second objective is to create a

coordinated national and international

system to manage, from farm-to-table,

the food safety risks that may be