The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced that registration is open for the third public meeting on the Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food Proposed Rule, to be held Thursday, March 20. The meeting is scheduled for 8:30 am – 12:30 pm, and will take place at the Harvey W. Wiley Federal Bldg, Wiley Auditorium, 5100 Paint Branch Pkwy., College Park, MD 20740.

An FDA Center for Food Safety and Nutrition (CFSAN) Constituent Update noted that the purpose of this meeting is to discuss the proposed rule to establish requirements for sanitary transportation practices for shippers, carriers, and receivers who transport food by motor vehicle and rail vehicle. FDA is proposing these requirements as part of the implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). These meetings are also designed to solicit oral stakeholder and other public comments on the proposed rule, inform the public about the rulemaking process (including how to submit comments, data and other information to the rulemaking docket), and respond to questions about the proposed rule. The proposed rule is available for public comment until May 31, 2014

The first meeting and second meeting on sanitary transportation will be combined with the public meetings to discuss the proposed rule for Focused Mitigation Strategies to Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration. These will be held on Feb. 27 in Chicago, IL and March 13 in Anaheim, CA. The third meeting on sanitary transportation will cover only this topic.

Public Meeting attendees are encouraged to register on-line or contact: Nick Cane, Nakamoto Group, Inc., 11820 Parklawn Drive, Suite 240, Rockville, MD 20852, telephone: 240-357-1176, FAX: 301-468-6536, e-mail: nick.cane@nakamotogroup.com.

Early registration is recommended because seating is limited. Additionally, FDA provides live webcasts and makes video recordings of all the public meetings.

For general questions about the meeting, to request an opportunity to make an oral presentation, or to request special accommodations due to a disability, contact: Juanita Yates, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740, telephone: 240-402-1731, e-mail: juanita.yates@fda.hhs.gov.

Interested parties may register here for the March 20 public meeting. For additional information on the Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food Proposed Rule, see the following links:

• Federal Register Notice for the Public Meeting
• Fact Sheet on the Proposed Rule

Please note the following important dates:

• Feb. 28, 2014: Closing date for request to make oral comment, or to request special accommodation due to a disability
• March 13, 2014: Closing date for advance registration
• May 31, 2014: Closing date to submit either electronic or written comments to FDA’s Division of Dockets Management. See Docket No. FDA-2013-N-0013 on regulations.gov