Procedures for the Safe and Sanitary Processing and Importing of Fish and Fishery Products; Notice of Public Meetings

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that it is sponsoring five public meetings that are intended to promote understanding and implementation of FDA's final rule, titled ``Procedures for the Safe and Sanitary Processing and Importing of Fish and Fishery Products,'' that published in the Federal Register on December 18, 1995. That final rule requires that domestic seafood processors and foreign processors who import seafood into the United States establish hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) systems to ensure the safety of their products. U.S. importers must take steps to help verify that their foreign suppliers are operating such systems. FDA is arranging these meetings in response to significant public interest, both domestic and foreign, in the requirements of the regulations, as well as in implementation strategies before its effective date of December 18, 1997.