Federal Register: December 28, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 248)
DOCID: FR Doc 04-28349
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
CFR Citation: 7 CFR Part 60
RIN ID: RIN 0581-AC26
DOCUMENT ID: [No. LS-03-04]
NOTICE: RULES
DOCUMENT ACTION: Interim final rule; extension of comment period.
SUBJECT CATEGORY:
Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling of Fish and Shellfish
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before February 2, 2005, to be assured of consideration.
DOCUMENT SUMMARY:
On October 5, 2004, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published an interim final rule (69 FR 59708) for the mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) program for fish and shellfish as mandated by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Farm Bill) and the 2002 Supplemental Appropriations Act (Appropriations Act), which amended the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (Act) to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to promulgate regulations by September 30, 2004, requiring retailers to notify their customers of the country of origin of covered commodities. The FY 2004 Consolidated Appropriations Act (Public Law 108199) delayed the applicability of mandatory COOL for all covered commodities except wild and farmraised fish and shellfish until September 30, 2006. AMS is extending the comment period to February 2, 2005, at the request of industry trade associations to provide interested parties with additional time to file comments.
SUMMARY:
Reader Aids; ; Fish and shellfish; mandatory country of origin labeling,
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
The Farm Bill and the Appropriations Act amended the Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to promulgate regulations by September 30, 2004, requiring retailers to notify their customers of the country of origin of covered commodities. The FY 2004 Consolidated Appropriations Act (Public Law 108199) delayed the applicability of mandatory COOL for all covered commodities except wild and farmraised fish and shellfish until September 30, 2006.
On October 5, 2004, AMS published an interim final rule (69 FR 59708) for the mandatory country of origin labeling program for fish and shellfish. The comment period was originally scheduled to end on January 3, 2005. However, two industry trade organizations have requested additional time for retailers to examine their systems in light of the requirements of the interim final rule in order to provide more meaningful comments. Further, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently published the final rule to implement the Bioterrorism Act's recordkeeping requirements and more time is needed for the industry to compare the FDA regulation recordkeeping requirements with the recordkeeping requirements under the COOL interim final rule. Therefore, AMS has determined that there is sufficient justification for extending the comment period 30 days until February 2, 2005.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.
Dated: December 22, 2004.
A.J. Yates,
Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 0428349 Filed 122704; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 341002M
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
William Sessions, Associate Deputy Administrator, Livestock and Seed Program, AMS, USDA, by telephone on (202) 7205707, or via email to: william.sessions@usda.gov.