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Issues: Country of Origin Labeling

On August 1, 2008, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued an interim final rule for mandatory country of origin labeling, the implementation date for which remains September 30, 2008. USDA is seeking industry comment on the COOL IFR. Comments must be submitted on or before September 30, 2008 to be assured of consideration. Comments should be submitted through the Internet at www.regulations.gov or they can be sent via fax or mail (mailing addresses available in the IFR).

To help its members better understand the COOL interim final rule, PMA has prepared an analysis of the regulation. It is provided in both HTML and PDF formats in the PMA Member Country of Origin Resources list below.

In addition, all of the questions and answers from the August 6 PMA and Western Growers free Webinar on the COOL IFR are available below. The Webinar recording and Powerpoint presentation is also provided.

• New! COOL Regulations Are Here: We'll Get You Ready - August 6, 2008 (Recorded Webinar)
• COOL Webinar Q&A: Cut, Blended, Processed, Mixed, Commingled Product Scenarios
• COOL Webinar Q&A: Supplier-level COOL Packaging/Labeling Scenarios
• COOL Webinar Q&A: Retail-level COOL Packaging/Labeling Scenarios
• COOL Webinar Q&A: Recordkeeping Scenarios
• COOL Webinar Q&A: Fruit Baskets, Nuts, Dried Fruits and Vegetables, Floral products, Herbs, Frozen Fruits and Vegetables

PMA Member Country of Origin Labeling Resources

• New! COOL Regulations Are Here: We'll Get You Ready - August 6, 2008 (Recorded Webinar)
• PMA Analysis of Interim Final Rule for Mandatory COOL - August 1, 2008 (PDF version)
• USDA Issues Interim Final Rule for Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling - July 29, 2008
• COOL Is Coming September 30th: Be Prepared With Best Practices (Recorded Webinar) - June 24, 2008
• PMA Briefing (transcript and audio) on COOL from Vice President of Government Relations Kathy Means
• PMA and WGA Country of Origin Labeling Task Force Best Practices (en Espanol)- June 5, 2008

Industry Country of Origin Labeling Resources

• USDA Interim Final Rule on Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling
• USDA Agricultural Marketing Service: Country of Origin Labeling Web Site