The US Codex Office announced a public meeting to discuss agenda items coming before the 17th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Committee (CAC) on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS), to be held in Cebu, Philippines Nov. 24 - 28, 2008.
The public meeting will be held on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the South Agriculture Building, Room 0161, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C.
Agenda items to be discussed during the public meeting will include general matters referred to the committee by the Codex bodies. These include the proposed draft "Principles and Guidelines for the Conduct of Foreign On-Site Audits and Inspections," the proposed draft "Generic Model Health Certificate," the annex to the "Guidelines for Design, Production, Insurance and Use of Generic Official Certificates." Also on the agenda are discussion papers on the need for guidance for national food inspection systems, the need for further guidance on traceability and product tracing and the development of guidance on the prevention of international contamination of food. Other business and future work will be discussed as well. Documents and agenda items related to the 17th Session of the CCFICS are available at the Codex Web site at www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.
For further information concerning the 17th Session of the CCFICS, contact Mary Stanley, the U.S. Delegate to the CCFICS, by phone at (202) 720-0287 or by e-mail at Mary.Stanley@fsis.usda.gov. Individuals are invited to submit their comments electronically to the following e-mail address: Michael.Wehr@fda.hhs.gov.
For further information about the public meeting, contact Edith Kennard, Staff Officer, U.S. Codex Office, FSIS, by phone at (202) 720-5261 or by e-mail at Edith.Kennard@fsis.usda.gov.
