Public Meeting to Address Codex Committee on General Principles

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Office of Food Safety announced a public meeting to provide information and receive comments on agenda items and draft U.S. positions that will be discussed at the 26th Session of the Codex Committee on General Principles (CCGP), to be held in Paris, France, April 12 - 16, 2010.

The public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 23, 2010, from 1:30 to 4 p.m., in Room 107-A, USDA, Jamie L. Whitten Building, 1200 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC. To participate through teleconference, dial (866) 692-3158, and enter the passcode 5986642. A complete agenda and documents relating to the 26th Session of CCGP will be available on the Codex Alimentarius Web site at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.jsp?lang=en.

CCGP was established to deal with Codex rules and procedures--including the establishment of principles which define the purpose and scope of Codex and the nature of Codex standards--as well as the development of mechanisms to address any economic impact statements. The Committee is hosted by France. Among the agenda items for the 26th session of CCGP is the Draft Revised Code of Ethics for International Trade in Foods.