67170 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 249 / Friday, December 28, 2001 / Notices

safety of animals, public health, and the

environment.

Based on the risk analysis, APHIS has

prepared an environmental assessment

(EA) concerning the field testing of the

veterinary biological product:

Requester: Biomune Company.

Product: Avian EncephalomyelitisFowl Pox-Mycoplasma Gallisepticum

Vaccine, Live Virus, Fowl Pox Vector.

Field test locations: Iowa, Minnesota,

Nebraska, North Carolina, Pennsylvania,

Texas, and Virginia.

The above-mentioned product is a

modified live avian encephalomyelitis

vaccine in combination with a live,

attenuated fowl pox virus that has been

genetically modified to express

Mycoplasma gallisepticum antigens.

The vaccine is for use in chickens as an

aid in the prevention of avian

encephalomyelitis, fowl pox, and

Mycoplasma gallisepticum.

The EA has been prepared in

accordance with: (1) The National

Environmental Policy Act of 1969

(NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et

seq.), (2) regulations of the Council on

Environmental Quality for

implementing the procedural provision

of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), (3)

USDA regulations implementing NEPA

(7 CFR part 1b), and (4) APHIS’ NEPA

Implementing Procedures (7 CFR part

372).

Unless substantial environmental

issues are raised in response to this

notice, APHIS intends to issue a finding

of no significant impact (FONSI) based

on the EA and authorize shipment of the

above product for the initiation of field

tests following the close of the comment

period for this notice.

Because the issues raised by field

testing and by issuance of a license are

identical, APHIS has concluded that the

EA that is generated for field testing

would also be applicable to the

proposed licensing action. Provided that

the field test data support the

conclusions of the EA and the issuance

of a FONSI, APHIS does not intend to

issue a separate EA and FONSI to

support the issuance of the product

license and would determine that an

environmental impact statement need

not be prepared. APHIS intends to issue

a veterinary biological product license

for this vaccine following completion of

the field test, provided no adverse

impacts on the human environment are

identified and the product meets all

other requirements for licensure.

Authority: 21 U.S.C. 151–159.

Done in Washington, DC, this 20th day of

December 2001.

W. Ron Dehaven,

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 01–31946 Filed 12–27–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. 01–042N]

Codex Alimentarius: 10th Session of

the Codex Committee on Food Import

and Export Inspection and Certification

Systems

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary

for Food Safety, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meetings,

request for comments.

SUMMARY: The Office of the Under

Secretary for Food Safety, U.S.

Department of Agriculture (USDA), the

Food and Drug Administration (FDA),

and the U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services (HHS), are sponsoring

two public meetings, on January 8 and

February 7, 2002, to provide

information and receive public

comments on agenda items that will be

discussed at the Tenth Session of the

Codex Committee on Food Import and

Export Inspection and Certification

Systems (CCFICS), which will be held

in Brisbane, Australia, February 25 to

March 1, 2002. The Under Secretary and

FDA recognize the importance of

CCFICS, and the need to provide

interested parties the opportunity to

obtain background information and

comment on the Tenth Session.

DATES: The public meetings are

scheduled for Tuesday, January 8, 2002

from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and

Thursday, February 7, 2002 from 1:00

p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The public meetings will be

held in Conference Room 1409, Federal

Office Building 8, Food and Drug

Administration, 200 C Street, SW.,

Washington, DC. Submit one original

and two copies of written comments to

the FSIS Docket Room, Docket #01–

042N, U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Food Safety and Inspection Service,

Room 102, Cotton Annex, 300 12th

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20250–

3700. To receive copies of the

documents referenced in this notice,

contact the FSIS Docket Room at the

above address. The documents will also

be accessible via the World Wide Web

at the following address: http://

www.codexalimentarius.net/ccfics10/

fc02 01e.htm

All comments received in response to

this notice will be considered part of the

public record to this notice will be

considered part of the public record and

will be available for viewing in the

Docket Room between 8:30 a.m. and

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patrick J. Clerkin, Associate U.S.

Manager for Codex, U.S. Codex Office,

FSIS, Room 4861, South Building, 1400

Independence Avenue SW.,

Washington, DC 20250–3700, telephone

(202) 205–7760; Fax: (202) 720–3157.

Persons requiring a sign language

interpreter or other special

accommodations should notify Mr.

Patrick J. Clerkin at the above phone

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.

CCFICS was established to develop

principles and guidelines for: food

import and export inspection and

certification systems; the application of

measures by competent authorities of

importing and exporting countries to

provide assurance that foods comply

with essential requirements; the

utilization of quality assurance systems;

and the format and content of official

certificates.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public

Meeting

The following issues and referenced

documents will be discussed during the

public meetings:

1. Adoption of the Agenda,

DOCUMENT CX/FICS 02/1

2. Matters Referred from the Codex

Alimentarius Commission and Other

Codex Committees, DOCUMENT CX/

FICS 02/2

3. Draft Guidelines for Food Import

Control Systems—Comments at Step 6,

DOCUMENT CL 2001/25–FICS;

DOCUMENT ALINORM 01/30A,

Appendix IV; DOCUMENT CX/FICS

02/3

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 249 / Friday, December 28, 2001 / Notices 67171

4. Draft Guidelines on the Judgement

of Equivalence of Sanitary Measures

Associated with Food Inspection and

Certification Systems—Comments at

Step 6, DOCUMENT CL 2001/25–FICS;

DOCUMENT ALINORM 01/30A,

Appendix III; DOCUMENT CX/FICS 02/

4

5. Proposed Draft Guidelines on the

Judgement of Equivalence of Technical

Regulations Associated with Food

Inspection and Certification Systems—

Comments at Step 3, DOCUMENT CX/

FICS 02/5; DOCUMENT CX/FICS 02/5–

Add.1

6. Proposed Draft Guidelines for the

Utilization and Promotion of Quality

Assurance Systems to Meet

Requirements in Relation to Food—

Comments at Step 3, DOCUMENT CX/

FICS 02/6; DOCUMENT CX/FICS 02/6–

Add.1

7. Proposed Draft Revision to the

Codex Guidelines for the Exchange of

Information in Food Control Emergency

Situations—Comments at Step 3,

DOCUMENT CX/FICS 02/7;

DOCUMENT CX/FICS 02/7–Add.1

8. Other Business and Future Work. In

advance of the meetings, the U.S.

Delegate to CCFICS will have assigned

responsibility for development of U.S.

positions on these issues to members of

the U.S. government. The individuals

assigned responsibility will be named at

the meetings and will take comments

and develop draft U.S. positions. All

interested parties are invited to provide

information and comments on the above

issues, or on any other issues that may

be brought before CCFICS.

Public Meetings

At the January 8th public meeting, the

issues will be reviewed and comments

will be received. At the February 7th

public meeting, the draft United States’

positions on the issues will be described

and discussed, and attendees will have

the opportunity to pose questions and

offer comments.

Please state that your comments relate

to CCFICS activities and specify which

issues your comments address.

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 the Federal Register

publication in the FSIS Constituent

Update. FSIS provides a weekly

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

meeting, recalls, and any other types of

information that could effect 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.

F. Edward Scarbrough,

U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius.

[FR Doc. 01–31947 Filed 12–27–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–DM–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Foreign Agricultural Service

Notice of Request for Extension of a

Currently Approved Information

Collection

AGENCY: Foreign Agricultural Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this

notice announces the Foreign

Agricultural Service’s (FAS) intention to

request an extension for a currently

approved information collection in

support of the Public Law 480, Title I

program.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be

received by February 26, 2002 to be

assured of consideration.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William Hawkins, Director, Program

Administration Division, Foreign

Agricultural Service, Room 4077 South

Building, Stop 1031, U.S. Department of

Agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave.,

SW., Washington, DC 20250–1031,

telephone (202) 720–3241.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Request for Vessel Approval,

Form CCC–105; and Request for Vessel

Approval Form CCC–105 (cotton).

OMB Number: 0551–0008.

Expiration Date of Approval: April 30,

2002.

Type of Request: Extension of a

currently approved information

collection.

Abstract: Title I of the Agricultural

Trade Development and Assistance Act

of 1954, as amended (Public Law 480)

authorizes the Commodity Credit

Corporation (CCC) to finance the sale

and exportation of agricultural

commodities on concessional terms. 7

U.S.C. 1701 et seq. Shipping agents or

embassies submit pertinent shipping

information on Form CCC–105 to

facilitate approval by CCC of shipping

arrangements. This approval is

necessary to assure compliance with

cargo preference requirements at the

lowest cost to CCC. Agents submit this

document in order that USDA can

generate the CCC–106, a necessary

payment document. Ocean carriers then

receive payment for ocean freight.

Estimate of Burden: The public

reporting burden is 15 minutes per

response for suppliers of ocean

transportation reporting details of

freight transactions.

Respondents: Business or other forprofit.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 5.

Estimated Total Annual Burden of

Respondents: 9 hours.

Copies of this information collection

can be obtained from Kimberly Chisley,

the Agency Information Collection

Coordinator, at (202) 720–2568.

Requests for comments: Comments

are requested on (a) whether the

proposed collection of information is

necessary for the proper performance of

the functions of the agency, including

whether the information will have

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden of the

proposed collection of information; (c)

ways to enhance the quality, utility and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the

burden of the collection of information

on those who are to respond, including

through the use of automated,

electronic, mechanical, or other

technological collection techniques or

other forms of information technology.

comments may be sent to William

Hawkins, Director, Program

Administration Division, Foreign

Agricultural Service Room 4077 South

Building, Stop 1031, U.S. department of

agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave.,

SW., Washington, DC 20250–1031,

telephone (202) 720–2600 (voice and

TDD). All responses to this notice will

be summarized and included in the

request for OMB approval. All