Director, Regulations Development Staff

0583-AD87 202110 The Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions 0583 Food Safety and Inspection Service FSIS 0500 Department of Agriculture USDA Voluntary Labeling of Meat Products With "Product of USA" and Similar Statements

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to amend its regulations to define the conditions under which the labeling of meat product labels can bear voluntary statements indicating that the product is of United States (U.S.) origin, such as Product of USA, or Made in the USA.

]]> Other Significant Previously Published in The Unified Agenda Proposed Rule Stage No No 9 CFR 317.8 21 U.S.C. 601, et seq. Yes

In 2018 and 2019, FSIS received two petitions requesting that it change its policy regarding the labeling of meat products to indicate U.S. origin. After considering the petitions and the public comments submitted in response to them, FSIS concluded that adherence to the current labeling policy guidance may be causing confusion in the marketplace with respect to certain imported meat and that the current labeling policy may no longer meet consumer expectations of what the Product of USA claim signifies. The Agency wants to ensure that any changes to its current policy are accomplished by an open and transparent process. Therefore, FSIS decided that, instead of changing the Policy Book entry, it would initiate rulemaking to define the conditions under which the labeling of meat products would be permitted to bear voluntary statements indicating that the product is of U.S. origin.

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The Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.)

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FSIS has considered the current labeling guidance and the alternatives proposed in the two petitions: 1) to amend the FSIS Policy Book to state that meat products may be labeled as Product of USA only if significant ingredients having a bearing on consumer preference such as meat, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, etc., are of domestic origin and; 2) to amend the FSIS Policy Book to provide that any beef product labeled as Made in the USA, Product of the USA, USA Beef or in any other manner that suggests that the origin is the United States, be derived from cattle that have been born, raised, and slaughtered in the United States. FSIS will now be conducting a comprehensive review of origin labeling claims for meat and conducting a consumer perception survey pursuant to developing the proposed regulations.

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Establishments may incur costs associated with voluntarily changing their labels as a result of any revised Product of USA labeling claim definition. This proposed rule is expected to benefit consumers by providing them more specific information on what Product of USA means for single-ingredient beef and pork products

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]]> NPRM 10/00/2022 No Businesses None No No No Matthew Michael Director, Regulations Development Staff 0583 Food Safety and Inspection Service FSIS 202 720-0345 202 690-0486 matthew.michael@usda.gov Office of Policy and Program Development, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington DC 20250-3700