The United States released its rules for mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) July 28.
Circulated as part of the government’s 2008 farm bill, the rule covers beef, veal, pork, lamb, chicken and goat as well as fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts and ginseng.
It has been published in the Federal Register, is open for a 60 day comment period and goes into effect Sept. 30. Fish and shellfish were covered in a 2005 rule.
“The intent of this law is to provide consumers with additional information on which to base their purchasing decisions,” the rule said.
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“COOL is a retail labelling program and as such does not provide a basis for addressing food safety.”
The highlights include:
- Meat from all livestock residing in the U.S. on July 15 may be labelled as U.S. origin.
Meat from livestock born, raised and slaughtered in the U.S. may be labelled as Product of the U.S.
- Meat from livestock raised and slaughtered in the U.S. may be labelled as Product of the U.S., Country X, and/or Country Y.
- Meat from livestock imported for direct slaughter will be labelled as Product of Country X and U.S.
- Ground beef, pork, lamb, goat and chicken must list all countries of origin that could be contained in the product as part of a blend.
- Suppliers of affected commodities must provide retailers with origin information.
- Slaughterers are responsible for initiating the origin claim and must possess or have legal access to records to substantiate the origin claim.
They may rely on producer affidavits provided they are made by people having first-hand knowledge of the origin.
If slaughtered animals are part of the National Animal Identification System, an official ear tag or accompanying animal markings can be used as the basis of origin claims. Official identification of animals from Canada and Mexico is acceptable.
The rule does not apply to commodities produced and packaged before Sept. 30.
Food service establishments are exempt. Retailers doing less than $230,000 in business during a calendar year are exempt. This would include most butcher shops.
Under the rules, processed food, including those cooked, cured, smoked or restructured, do not have to be labelled. Examples include meatloaf, meatballs, fabricated steak, breaded veal cutlets, corned beef, sausage, breaded chicken tenders, flavoured pork loin, packaged salad and fruit mixes.
If a retail product contains two types of commodities such as frozen peas and carrots, the item is considered processed and does not need a label.
Allowable labels may be a stamp, sign, twist tie, pin tag or other clear sign on the commodity or package. Abbreviations, symbols or flags of the country are not acceptable. The country of origin may be included on the nutritional label.
Records must be maintained for one year and available within five days if requested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Fines for non-compliance are $1,000 for each violation, which is less than the $10,000 penalty originally proposed.
Mandatory identification to track controlled products through the food chain is prohibited.
The rule reduces the recordkeeping retention requirements for suppliers and retailers to one year and removes the requirement to maintain records at the retail store.
USDA plans to conduct an education program for six months after the rule takes effect to help the industry comply.
The USDA estimates the total first year implementation costs for all directly affected firms at $2.5 billion. Costs per firm are estimated at $376 for producers, $53,948 for intermediaries and $235,551 for retailers.
