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 Labelling (CCFL) are:

(a) to draft provisions on labelling applicable to all foods;

(b) to consider, amend if necessary, and endorse draft specific provisions on labelling prepared by the Codex Committees drafting standards, codes of practice and guidelines;

(c) to study specific labelling problems assigned to it by the Commission; and,

(d) to study problems associated with the advertisement of food with particular reference to claims and misleading descriptions.

The CCFL is hosted by Canada. The United States attends the CCFL as a member country of Codex.

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public Meeting

The following items from the Provisional Agenda for the 49th Session of the CCFL will be discussed during the public meeting:

• Matters referred by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and/or its subsidiary bodies
• The use of “country of harvest” in addition to the mandatory declaration of country of origin in food labelling of spices
• Matters of interest from international organizations
• Consideration of labelling provisions in draft Codex standards (endorsement)
• Annex to the General standard for the labelling of pre-packaged foods (CXS 1-1985): Guidelines on the use of precautionary allergen labelling (PAL)
• Amendments to the General standard for the labelling of pre-packaged foods (CXS 1-1985): Provisions relevant to joint presentation and multipack formats
• Guidelines on application of food labelling provisions in emergencies
• Future work and emerging issues
• Other business

Public Meeting

At the April 23, 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 Dr. Douglas Balentine, U.S. Delegate to the 49th Session of the CCFL, at douglas.balentine@fda.hhs.gov. Written comments should state that they relate to activities of the 49th Session of the CCFL.

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.)

91 FR 15943