The mandatory country of origin labeling saga continues. Last month, it was mostly on or off, no one knew for sure because the Bush administration had announced and published the final rule on January 16 for implementation March 16.
However, along came the new administration and it appeared everything was at a standstill. Well, not so fast. Several things happened in rapid quick fire succession from the USA Secretary of Agriculture. Reports indicated he met with the food industry and even had some input on the rule from the labor unions and other organizations not so friendly to more flexibility.
The USDA even scheduled and then cancelled, soon after, a conference call with the media, but that soon followed with a statement to the media. The release seemed pretty straight forward and gave some comfort and calmed some nerves in the Canadian livestock industry. However, the kicker is the letter the Secretary sent to the stakeholders inviting them to follow additional voluntary labeling practices. Some say, it will never happen, others say it puts the Canadian movement of livestock to the USA on hold once again. Here is the statement and the letter to the stakeholders which the AgriPost was able to obtain.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Friday, February 20 the final rule for the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) program will go into effect as scheduled on March 16. He also released a letter inviting stakeholders to follow additional voluntary labeling practices. The rule, published in the Federal Register on January15, has been under regulatory review by USDA pursuant to a January 20 memorandum from the President’s Chief of Staff.
“I strongly support Country of Origin Labeling. It’s a critical step toward providing consumers with additional information about the origin of their food,” said Vilsack. “The Department of Agriculture will be closely reviewing industry compliance with the rule and will evaluate the practicality of the suggestions for voluntary action in my letter.”
During the regulatory review process, Secretary Vilsack determined that allowing the rule to go into effect and carefully monitoring implementation and compliance by retailers and their suppliers would provide the best avenue to evaluate the program. This evaluation period will inform the Secretary’s consideration of whether additional rule making may be necessary to provide consumers with adequate information.
The COOL regulation requires country of origin labeling for muscle cuts and ground beef (including veal), pork, lamb, goat, and chicken; wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish; fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables; peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, and ginseng sold by designated retailers. These commodities must be labeled at retail to indicate the country of origin.
The final rule outlines requirements for labeling covered commodities and the record keeping requirements for retailers and suppliers. The rule prescribes specific criteria that must be met for a commodity to bear a “United States Country of Origin” declaration. The rule also contains provisions for labeling covered commodities of foreign origin.
