08/01/08 COOL rule being published today

Washington Ag August 1, 2008 USDA's interim final rule for mandatory country of origin labeling, or COOL, is being published in the Federal Register today. The rule covers muscle cuts and ground beef including veal, lamb, chicken, goat and pork as well perishable commodities such as fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables. Beginning September 30th these commodities must be labeled at retail to indicate their country of origin. USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service administrator Lloyd Day says USDA will be as flexible as possible to help retailers implement the rule. Day: "We are going to allow for six months of outreach and education to go around the country and talk to affected commodity groups and retailers so that they have a good, clear understanding of what they need to have in terms of record keeping, of what a label ought to look like." Day says communication between retailers and their product chain will be important to make COOL work. Day: "They are going to have to talk to whom they source their commodities from to ensure they have the adequate records that will enable them to have the label on an apple, orange or tomato. Or, if they get boxed beef that they cut up at the store, that they have that information they can then put on cuts of meat they are going to display for their consumers." The rule reduces record keeping requirements and allows meat packers to accept producer affidavits as the record of an animal's origin. I'm Bob Hoff.