Canned seafood is now exempt from the Country of Origin labeling requirements called for in the 2002 Farm Bill. In an interim final rule released late yesterday by USDA, fish and shellfish covered commodities must be labeled at retail to indicate their country of origin and method of production (wild and/or farm raised). However, covered commodities are excluded from mandatory COOL if they are an ingredient in a processed food item.
Also, the definition of a processed food item was revised from the proposed rule. Items derived from a covered commodity that has undergone a change (e.g., cooking, curing, smoking) or that has been combined with other covered commodities or other substantive food components (e.g., breading, tomato sauce) are excluded from COOL labeling.
Food service establishments, such as restaurants, lunchrooms, cafeterias, food stands, bars, lounges and similar enterprises are exempt from the mandatory COOL requirements.
The interim final rule reduces the recordkeeping retention requirements for suppliers and centrally located retail records to one year and reduces the time during which store-level records must be made available to when product is on hand.
The interim final rule will become effective six months from the date of publication in the Federal Register. USDA says this delay will permit existing inventories to clear through the channels of commerce and allow industry members to conform their operations to the new requirements. USDA said it plans to conduct outreach and education activities during the first year to assist the industry in achieving compliance with requirements of the rule.
The 201-page interim final rule will be published in the Federal Register within the next few days. It’s also available now on USDA's web site at the link below. AFI will provide additional information, if necessary, once the document has been reviewed.
