SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Codex Alimentarius Commission was established in 1963. 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 protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade.

The Terms of Reference of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS) are:

(a) to develop principles and guidelines for food import and export inspection and certification systems with a view to harmonising methods and procedures which protect the health of consumers, ensure fair trading practices and facilitate international trade in foodstuffs;

(b) to develop principles and guidelines for the application of measures by the competent authorities of exporting and importing countries to provide assurance where necessary that foodstuffs comply with requirements, especially statutory health requirements;

(c) to develop guidelines for the utilisation, as and when appropriate, of quality assurance systems to ensure that foodstuffs conform with requirements and to promote the recognition of these systems in facilitating trade in food products under bilateral/multilateral arrangements by countries;

(d) to develop guidelines and criteria with respect to format, declarations and language of such official certificates as countries may require with a view towards international harmonization;

(e) to make recommendations for information exchange in relation to food import/export control;

(f) to consult as necessary with other international groups working on matters related to food inspection and certification systems; and,

(g) to consider other matters assigned to it by the Commission in relation to food inspection and certification systems. Quality assurance means all those planned and systematic actions necessary to provide adequate confidence that a product or service will satisfy given requirements for quality (ISO-8402 Quality—Vocabulary)

The CCFICS is hosted by Australia. The United States attends the CCFICS as a member country of Codex.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

The following items from the agenda for the 28th Session of the CCFICS will be discussed during the public meeting:

• Adoption of the Agenda
• Matters arising from the Codex Alimentarius Commission and its subsidiary bodies
• Information on activities of international organizations relevant to the work of CCFICS
• Draft guidelines on the prevention and control of food fraud
• Draft Consolidated Codex guidelines related to equivalence
• Draft revisedPrinciples for traceability/product tracing as a tool within a food inspection and certification system (CXG 60-2006)
• Draft guidance on appeals mechanism in the context of rejection of imported food
• Draft guidance on the standardization of sanitary requirements
• Draft guidance on establishment listings
• Draft principles on digitalisation of national food control systems
• Review and update of Appendix A—List of emerging global issues
• Other Business

Public Meeting

At the September 10, 2026, public meeting, agenda items and draft U.S. positions will be described and discussed, and attendees will have the opportunity to pose questions and offer comments. Written comments may be offered at the meeting or sent to U.S Delegate, Dr. Maria Esteras, at ( printed page 53838) uscodex@usda.gov. Written comments should state that they relate to activities of the 28th Session of the CCFICS.

Additional Public Notification

Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy development is important. Consequently, the U.S. Codex Office will announce this Federal Register publication on-line through the USDA Codex web page located at: https://www.usda.gov/​codex.

(Authority: 19 U.S.C. 2578; Pres. Proc. 6780; 7 CFR part 2.602.)