To be accepted by the Conference for Food Protection and considered for Council deliberation, an Issue and any attached documents must meet the following terms and conditions:

1. Be within the scope of the Conference objectives. See Conference Mission and Objectives

2. Be submitted electronically using the online Issue submission form on or before the posted deadline date at which time the submission form will no longer be accessible.

A late-breaking food safety Issue submitted after the deadline may be considered for assignment to a Council if it has first been presented to the Conference Executive Board for review and acceptance. See Late Issue Submission Policy

3. May not be commercial in nature. Issues that endorse a brand name or commercial proprietary process, or that include a brand name in the Issue, rationale, or solution will NOT be accepted.

Attachments to an Issue may not violate the Commercialism and Comity Policy and must meet specified size and format limitations. See Commercialism and Comity Policy and Issue Management System User Guide.

4. Conform to the current "Issue Preparation & Review - Process & Checklist" guidance document. See Issue Preparation & Review - Process & Checklist and Issue Pre-submission Form links below under Issue Submission.

5. Meet the Issue Acceptance Criteria in the current version of the CFP Biennial Meeting/Procedures document.

a) All sections of the Issue submission form must be complete and grammatically correct.

b) The Issue must be described completely including its impact on the retail food industry.

c) The food protection or public health significance must be clearly stated and easily understood.

d) The suggested solution or rationale must be sufficiently detailed to cover all aspects of the submission. If the Recommended Solution includes proposed edits to an existing document (such as the current FDA Food Code or a Conference document), the specific portion of the document to be changed must be accurately identified and any requested edits clearly specified using strikeout to indicate the words to be deleted and underline to indicate the newly added text.

e) Committee submitted documents may impact the image, credibility and integrity of the Conference as an organization. With the exception of material that has been copyrighted and/or has registration marks, committee documents, including all work products (Issues; reports; and Content Documents) generated by a Conference committee, become the property of the Conference.

f) Issues and Supporting Documents submitted by an independent entity or individual reflect only the submitter's ideas, values, opinions, and findings and those documents do not become the property of the Conference.

g) An independent entity or individual who submits an Issue with attached documentation gives their automatic consent to the Conference to publish that information for Deliberation and dissemination.

6. Issues will be reviewed for spelling, grammar, content, and clarity; the submitter will be provided the opportunity to incorporate recommended changes. Revisions to an Issue after the posted submittal deadline will be limited to those requested by the Issue Reviewers.

Failure to make changes as requested and within a specified time period may result in rejection of the Issue. Issues will NOT be rejected based on content; the only reason for rejection will be for non-compliance with the terms and conditions for Issue acceptance.
See "Issue Rejection Process" in the current version of the CFP Biennial Meeting/Conference Procedures document.

Issue documents are updated for each biennial meeting. Please use the "generic" version of the Issue Pre-submission Form in Word and the Issue Submission Guidelines to prepare your Issue for submittal. Once satisfied that your draft meets all requirements, you are ready to submit your Issue online.

Once the Issue submittal window closes, the Issue Reviewers will work with submitters to clarify any questions or concerns.

Once an Issue is accepted and finalized by the Issue Reviewers, it follows this path:

1. ISSUE ASSIGNMENT

The Issue Committee reviews each accepted Issue for assignment to the appropriate Council.

• Council I - Laws and Regulations
• Council II - Administration, Education, and Certification
• Council III - Science and Technology

Council Chairs will assign a sequence number representing the planned order for discussion during Council deliberations.

2. ISSUE POSTING

Issues will be posted on the Conference for Food Protection website at least 40 days prior to the biennial meeting. The Issues and attachments will be downloadable individually or by Council.

Two versions of Issues will be available online: full Issues as submitted and an abbreviated version used by Council Scribes. After Councils complete their tasks, the Scribe version will be posted for Delegate review and vote.

3. COUNCIL DELIBERATION

As an Issue submitter, although not required, your presence at the Biennial Meeting will greatly assist discussion of your Issue; if you cannot attend, please make every effort to ensure that someone is present to answer any questions.

During Council deliberation, Issues may be reworded or combined with similar Issues. Modifications to Issues or attachments from the submitter are restricted. Every effort should be made to ensure your original submission is complete and accurate.

If modifications are necessary, submitters are required to:

• Notify the Council Chair in advance.
• Provide an electronic version (transportable memory) for the Council Scribe.
• Provide 25 paper copies for Council members.
• Present changes/modifications in a strikeout/underline format.
• Date and time the new document to reduce confusion with previous versions.

Final Council recommendations are limited to:

• Accept as written.
• Accept as amended.
• No Action - with reason.

A guidance document has been developed to assist Council members when Editing an Issue Recommended Solution.

The final Council recommendations are posted on the CFP website the evening before the Assembly of Delegates.

4. ASSEMBLY OF DELEGATE VOTE

On the last day of the Biennial Meeting, Council Chairs present final Council recommendations to the Assembly of Delegates who vote to either accept Issues as recommended by the Council or extract specific Issues for further discussion.

If extracted for discussion, the recommended Council action can either be accepted as written, or rejected. Rejecting a Council recommendation means that the Council action is reversed.

5. CONFERENCE ACTION

The final action taken by the Conference on each Issue will depend on the vote of the Assembly of Delegates and the action as written in the final Issue recommendation. Actions may include:

• Posting committee developed guidance documents to the CFP website.
• Establishing new committees.
• Referring new charges to existing committees.
• Corresponding with organizations and agencies such as FDA, USDA, and CDC according to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Conference and each agency.