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COUNTRY
OF ORIGIN LABELING (COOL)
The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Farm Bill)
included requirements for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
to promulgate regulations associated with country of origin labeling (COOL)
for meat, fish, perishable agricultural commodities, and peanuts. The final mandatory regulations will be
promulgated by September 2004. In
October 2002 USDA issued voluntary guidelines for retailers who want to
begin labeling programs now.
COOL requires all retailers and their suppliers to conform to
labeling standards. The standards
require that an auditable information trail be developed to ensure accuracy
in labeling. The law does not permit
“self-certification” as a method of complying with the requirements. This means that audits must be conducted
at packers, producers and other suppliers to ensure proper records are
being kept.
SES has developed
industry wide and facility specific programs to allow organizations to
conform to other auditable standards.
Currently, SES is putting
together a group of auditors located around the country to provide
independent auditing of the COOL requirements. SES has also developed
a database framework for inputting data from packers and producers. This framework will be finalized once the
final COOL rules are promulgated.
SES looks forward to
helping you with your COOL requirements.
For more information, please contact Frank Bryant at (800) 897-1163.
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