Agriculture Today - September 2008

C.O.O.L. mandatory rule goes into effect Sept. 30

The country-of-origin labeling (COOL) rule will take effect on Sept. 30, as required by the passage and implementation of the 2008 Farm Bill. Covered commodities included in this rulemaking are muscle cuts of beef (including veal),lamb,chicken,goat,andpork;groundbeef, ground lamb, ground chicken, ground goat, and ground pork; perishable agricultural commodities (fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables); macadamia nuts; pecans; ginseng; and peanuts.

Retailers are mandated to notify customers with the country of origin labels for the affected commodities. Therefore, anyone who is associated with supplying the affected commodities will have to make COOL information available to that retailer. The information for the labelingmay be either on the product, on the shipping container, or in a separate accompanying document. For the retailers, they will need to either place a label, stamp, mark, placard, or a clear visible sign for their customers. The only exemption to this rule will be food service establishments, such as stands, bars, and lounges.

Suppliers or retailers seeking to label their products with a U.S. label must either be animals exclusively born, raised, and slaughtered or perishable commodities grown in the U.S.

The rule also reduces the recordkeeping retention requirements for suppliers and retailers to one year. Those found to be in violation of this rule could face up to $1,000 per item.

However, because of the 2008 FarmBill and some of the affected industries (goat, chicken, pecans, ginseng, and macadamia nuts) did not have prior opportunities to comment on this rulemaking,USDAplans to hosteducationalandoutreachactivitiesinthe next six months to assist the public to come into compliance with the law. For more information on the rule, please visit www.ams.usda.gov/COOL.