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CFSAN/Office of Compliance
February 18, 2004
The ICSSL is published monthly for the information and use by food control officials, seafood industry and other interested persons. The publication is distributed under authorities of the Public Health Service Act and the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The shippers listed have been certified by regulatory authorities in the United States, Canada, Chile, Korea, New Zealand and Mexico under the uniform sanitation requirements of the National Shellfish Program. Control measures of the states are evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Canadian, Chilean, Korean, New Zealand and Mexican shippers are included under the terms of the shellfish sanitation agreements with the governments of these countries.
As announced in the December 2003 issue of the ICSSL, due to budget constraints, the January 2004 list was to be the last printing by FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). However, because additional time was needed to develop and sufficiently test the new online subscription system for obtaining the list electronically, the last printed list will be February 2004. Following are details for obtaining this publication in electronic and printed formats:
This format provides the ICSSL in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), which will allow users to view and print the list in whole or in part as the previously distributed printed copy. Users who want this format should subscribe online by accessing URL http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~ear/shellfis.html to provide their email address. In order to open and print the PDF file, subscribers will need the Adobe® Reader® software which can be obtained at no cost by accessing URL http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html and download it. In addition, the system used to generate the ICSSL has been upgraded and now allows for real-time updating as information is available. Therefore, the PDF file accessed by subscribers each month via email will be a snapshot of the data as it appears at the time of its creation.
Beginning with the March 2004 issue, the first week of each month FDA/CFSAN will notify all online subscribers via email that the latest ICSSL is available and include the URL for the PDF file. FDA/CFSAN will continue to provide the ICSSL on its website in PDF and dynamic (real time) formats. When users no longer need the ICSSL, they will have the capability to unsubscribe by accessing the same URL for subscribing to cancel receiving notification via email.
Questions or concerns related to the information contained in the ICSSL should be directed to Charlotte Epps via telephone at 301-436-2154 or by email at Charlotte.Epps@fda.hhs.gov. System problems encountered in subscribing or unsubscribing should be submitted by email at Christopher.Mark@fda.hhs.gov.
The Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC) obtained approval from its Executive Board in August 2003 to print and distribute the ICSSL after February 2004. However, presently the ISSC does not have the financial resources to provide this information at no cost to users. To assist them in determining the feasibility of publishing the ICSSL, a survey was included in the December issue of this publication and is also available at www.issc.org. Users who need or prefer this publication in printed format should complete and return the survey as soon as possible to the ISSC, 209-2 Dawson Road, Columbia, SC 29223 or telephone at 803-788-7559.
