(a)
Petitions to be filed with the Commissioner under the provisions of section 409(b) of the act shall be submitted in triplicate. If any part of the material submitted is in a foreign language, it shall be accompanied by an accurate and complete English translation. The petition shall state petitioner's post office address to which published notices or orders issued or objections filed pursuant to section 409 of the act may be sent.
(b)
Pertinent information may be incorporated in, and will be considered as part of, a petition on the basis of specific reference to such information submitted to and retained in the files of the Food and Drug Administration. However, any reference to unpublished information furnished by a person other than the applicant will not be considered unless use of such information is authorized in a written statement signed by the person who submitted it. Any reference to published information offered in support of a food-additive petition should be accompanied by reprints or photostatic copies of such references.
(c)
Petitions shall include the following data and be submitted in the following form:
(d)
The petitioner will be notified of the date on which his petition is filed, and an incomplete petition, or one that has not been submitted in triplicate, will usually be retained but not filed as a petition under section 409 of the act. The petitioner will be notified in what respects his petition is incomplete.
(e)
The petition must be signed by the petitioner or by his attorney or agent, or (if a corporation) by an authorized official.
(f)
The data specified under the several lettered headings should be submitted on separate sheets or sets of sheets, suitably identified. If such data have already been submitted with an earlier application, the present petition may incorporate it by specific reference to the earlier. If part of the data have been submitted by the manufacturer of the food additive as a master file, the petitioner may refer to the master file if and to the extent he obtains the manufacturer's written permission to do so. The manufacturer may authorize specific reference to the data without disclosure to the petitioner. Nothing herein shall prevent reference to published data.
(g)
A petition shall be retained but shall not be filed if any of the data prescribed by section 409(b) of the act are lacking or are not set forth so as to be readily understood.
(h)
(1)
The following data and information in a food additive petition are available for public disclosure, unless extraordinary circumstances are shown, after the notice of filing of the petition is published in the Federal Register or, if the petition is not promptly filed because of deficiencies in it, after the petitioner is informed that it will not be filed because of the deficiencies involved:
(i)
All safety and functionality data and information submitted with or incorporated by reference in the petition.
(ii)
A protocol for a test or study, unless it is shown to fall within the exemption established for trade secrets and confidential commercial information in § 20.61 of this chapter.
(iii)
Adverse reaction reports, product experience reports, consumer complaints, and other similar data and information, after deletion of:
(a) Names and any information that would identify the person using the product.
(b) Names and any information that would identify any third party involved with the report, such as a physician or hospital or other institution.
(iv)
A list of all ingredients contained in a food additive, whether or not it is in descending order of predominance. A particular ingredient or group of ingredients shall be deleted from any such list prior to public disclosure if it is shown to fall within the exemption established in § 20.61 of this chapter, and a notation shall be made that any such ingredient list is incomplete.
(v)
An assay method or other analytical method, unless it serves no regulatory or compliance purpose and is shown to fall within the exemption established in § 20.61 of this chapter.
(2)
The following data and information in a food additive petition are not available for public disclosure unless they have been previously disclosed to the public as defined in § 20.81 of this chapter or they relate to a product or ingredient that has been abandoned and they no longer represent a trade secret or confidential commercial or financial information as defined in § 20.61 of this chapter :
(i)
Manufacturing methods or processes, including quality control procedures.
(ii)
Production, sales, distribution, and similar data and information, except that any compilation of such data and information aggregated and prepared in a way that does not reveal data or information which is not available for public disclosure under this provision is available for public disclosure.
(iii)
Quantitative or semiquantitative formulas.
(3)
All correspondence and written summaries of oral discussions relating to a food additive petition are available for public disclosure in accordance with the provisions of part 20 of this chapter when the food additive regulation is published in the Federal Register.
(4)
For purposes of this regulation, safety and functionality data include all studies and tests of a food additive on animals and humans and all studies and tests on a food additive for identity, stability, purity, potency, performance, and usefulness.
(i)
(1)
Within 15 days after receipt, the Commissioner will notify the petitioner of acceptance or nonacceptance of a petition, and if not accepted the reasons therefor. If accepted, the date of the notification letter sent to petitioner becomes the date of filing for the purposes of section 409(b)(5) of the act. If the petitioner desires, he may supplement a deficient petition after being notified regarding deficiencies. If the supplementary material or explanation of the petition is deemed acceptable, petitioner shall be notified. The date of such notification becomes the date of filing. If the petitioner does not wish to supplement or explain the petition and requests in writing that it be filed as submitted, the petition shall be filed and the petitioner so notified. The date of such notification becomes the date of filing.
(2)
The Commissioner will publish in the Federal Register within 30 days from the date of filing of such petition, a notice of the filing, the name of the petitioner, and a brief description of the proposal in general terms. In the case of a food additive which becomes a component of food by migration from packaging material, the notice shall include the name of the migratory substance, and where it is different from that of one of the original components, the name of the parent component, the maximum quantity of the migratory substance that is proposed for use in food, and the physical or other technical effect which the migratory substance or its parent component is intended to have in the packaging material. A copy of the notice will be mailed to the petitioner when the original is forwarded to the Federal Register for publication.
(j)
The Commissioner may request a full description of the methods used in, and the facilities and controls used for, the production of the food additive, or a sample of the food additive, articles used as components thereof, or of the food in which the additive is proposed to be used, at any time while a petition is under consideration. The Commissioner shall specify in the request for a sample of the food additive, or articles used as components thereof, or of the food in or on which the additive is proposed to be used, a quantity deemed adequate to permit tests of analytical methods to determine quantities of the food additive present in foods for which it is intended to be used or adequate for any study or investigation reasonably required with respect to the safety of the food additive or the physical or technical effect it produces. The date used for computing the 90-day limit for the purposes of section 409(c)(2) of the act shall be moved forward 1 day for each day after the mailing date of the request taken by the petitioner to submit the sample. If the information or sample is requested a reasonable time in advance of the 180 days, but is not submitted within such 180 days after filing of the petition, the petition will be considered withdrawn without prejudice.
(k)
If nonclinical laboratory studies are involved, petitions filed with the Commissioner under section 409(b) of the act shall include, with respect to each study, either a statement that the study was conducted in compliance with the requirements set forth in part 58 of this chapter, or, if the study was not conducted in compliance with such regulations, a brief statement of the reason for the noncompliance.
Code of Federal Regulations
[41 FR 38647, Sept. 10, 1976, as amended at 42 FR 15675, Mar. 22, 1977; 50 FR 7518, Feb. 22, 1985; 50 FR 16668, Apr. 26, 1985; 52 FR 8583, Mar. 19, 1987; 57 FR 6476, Feb. 25, 1992; 62 FR 40600, July 29, 1997]