Ag News
USDA finalizes voluntary Product of the USA label rule
Posted on Mar 27, 2024 at 16:13 PM
On March 11, the USDA announced the finalization of a rule to align the voluntary “Product of USA” label claim with consumer understanding of what the claim means.
The American Farm Bureau Federation voiced support for the rule.
“AFBF appreciates USDA for its efforts on the final Product of USA Rule,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall said in a released statement. “America’s families have taken a greater interest in where their food comes from, and this voluntary rule provides the flexibility to farmers and ranchers who choose to highlight the state, region or country where their poultry and livestock were raised.”
According to the USDA, the final allows the voluntary “Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” label claim to be used on meat, poultry and egg products only when they are derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States. The rule will prohibit misleading U.S. origin labeling in the market and help ensure that the information that consumers receive about where their food comes from is truthful.
USDA’s final “Product of USA” rule is supported by petitions, thousands of comments from stakeholders, and data from a nationwide consumer survey.
Under the final rule, the “Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” label claim will continue to be voluntary. It will also remain eligible for generic label approval, meaning it would not need to be pre-approved by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) before it can be used on regulated products, but would require the establishment to maintain documentation on file to support the claim. The final rule also allows the use of other voluntary U.S. origin claims on meat, poultry and egg products sold in the marketplace. These claims will need to include a description on the package of the preparation and processing steps that occurred in the United States upon which the claim is made.
USDA has also published an updated labeling guidance on the use of voluntary U.S.-origin label claims to provide examples of claims and the types of documentation that establishments may maintain to support use of the claims. The guidance will be open for public comment for 60 days after publishing in the Federal Register. Public comments can be submitted at www.regulations.gov.
Establishments voluntarily using a claim subject to the final rule will need to comply with the new regulatory requirements by January 1, 2026, and are encouraged to do so as soon as practicable after the publication of this final rule.
- Categories:
- Tags: