PART 60—COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING FOR FISH AND SHELLFISH Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq. Source: 74 FR 2701, Jan. 15, 2009, unless otherwise noted. Subpart A—General Provisions Definitions § 60.101 Act. Act et seq. § 60.102 AMS. AMS § 60.103 Commingled covered commodities. Commingled covered commodities § 60.104 Consumer package. Consumer package § 60.105 Covered commodity. (a) Covered commodity (1)-(2) [Reserved] (3) Farm-raised fish and shellfish (including fillets, steaks, nuggets, and any other flesh); (4) Wild fish and shellfish (including fillets, steaks, nuggets, and any other flesh); (5)-(6) [Reserved] (b) Covered commodities are excluded from this part if the commodity is an ingredient in a processed food item as defined in § 60.119. § 60.106 Farm-raised fish. Farm-raised fish § 60.107 Food service establishment. Food service establishment §§ 60.108-60.110 [Reserved] § 60.111 Hatched. Hatched § 60.112 Ingredient. Ingredient § 60.113 [Reserved] § 60.114 Legible. Legible § 60.115 [Reserved] § 60.116 Person. Person § 60.117 [Reserved] § 60.118 Pre-labeled. Pre-labeled § 60.119 Processed food item. Processed food item §§ 60.120-60.121 [Reserved] § 60.122 Production step. Production step (a) [Reserved] (b) Farm-raised Fish and Shellfish: Hatched, raised, harvested, and processed. (c) Wild Fish and Shellfish: Harvested and processed. § 60.123 Raised. Raised (a) [Reserved] (b) Farm-raised fish and shellfish as it relates to the production steps defined in § 60.122: The period of time from hatched to harvested. § 60.124 Retailer. Retailer [78 FR 31385, May 24, 2013] § 60.125 Secretary. Secretary § 60.126 [Reserved] § 60.127 United States. United States § 60.128 United States country of origin. United States country of origin (a)-(b) [Reserved] (c) Farm-raised Fish and Shellfish: From fish or shellfish hatched, raised, harvested, and processed in the United States, and that has not undergone a substantial transformation (as established by U.S. Customs and Border Protection) outside of the United States. (d) Wild-fish and Shellfish: From fish or shellfish harvested in the waters of the United States or by a U.S. flagged vessel and processed in the United States or aboard a U.S. flagged vessel, and that has not undergone a substantial transformation (as established by U.S. Customs and Border Protection) outside of the United States. (e)-(f) [Reserved] § 60.129 USDA. USDA § 60.130 U.S. flagged vessel. U.S. flagged vessel (a) Any vessel documented under chapter 121 of title 46, United States Code; or (b) Any vessel numbered in accordance with chapter 123 of title 46, United States Code. § 60.131 Vessel flag. Vessel flag § 60.132 Waters of the United States. Waters of the United States Federal Register § 60.133 Wild fish and shellfish. Wild fish and shellfish Country of Origin Notification § 60.200 Country of origin notification. In providing notice of the country of origin as required by the Act, the following requirements shall be followed by retailers: (a) General. (b) Exemptions. (c) Exclusions. (d) Designation of method of production (wild and/or farm-raised). (e) Labeling covered commodities of United States origin. (f) Labeling imported products that have not undergone substantial transformation in the United States. (g) Labeling imported products that have subsequently been substantially transformed in the United States. (2) Wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish: If a covered commodity was imported from country X and subsequently substantially transformed (as established by U.S. Customs and Border Protection) in the United States or aboard a U.S. flagged vessel, such product shall be labeled at retail as “From country X, processed in the United States.” Alternatively, the product may be labeled as “Product of country X and the United States”. (h) Labeling commingled covered commodities. (2) For imported covered commodities that have subsequently undergone substantial transformation in the United States that are commingled with other imported covered commodities that have subsequently undergone substantial transformation in the United States (either prior to or following substantial transformation in the United States) and/or U.S. origin covered commodities, the declaration shall indicate the countries of origin contained therein or that may be contained therein. (i) Remotely purchased products. § 60.300 Labeling. (a) Country of origin declarations and method of production (wild and/or farm-raised) designations can either be in the form of a placard, sign, label, sticker, band, twist tie, pin tag, or other format that provides country of origin and method of production information. The country of origin declaration and method of production (wild and/or farm-raised) designation may be combined or made separately. Except as provided in § 60.200(g) and 60.200(h) of this regulation, the declaration of the country(ies) of origin of a product shall be listed according to applicable Federal legal requirements. Country of origin declarations may be in the form of a check box provided it is in conformance with other Federal legal requirements. Various forms of the production designation are acceptable, including “wild caught”, “wild”, “farm-raised”, “farmed”, or a combination of these terms for blended products that contain both wild and farm-raised fish or shellfish, provided it can be readily understood by the consumer and is in conformance with other Federal labeling laws. Designations such as “ocean caught”, “caught at sea”, “line caught”, “cultivated”, or “cultured” are not acceptable substitutes. Alternatively, method of production (wild and/or farm-raised) designations may be in the form of a check box. (b) The declaration of the country(ies) of origin and method(s) of production (wild and/or farm-raised) (e.g., placard, sign, label, sticker, band, twist tie, pin tag, or other display) must be placed in a conspicuous location, so as to render it likely to be read and understood by a customer under normal conditions of purchase. (c) The declaration of the country(ies) of origin and the method(s) of production (wild and/or farm-raised) may be typed, printed, or handwritten provided it is in conformance with other Federal labeling laws and does not obscure other labeling information required by other Federal regulations. (d) A bulk container (e.g., display case, shipper, bin, carton, and barrel), used at the retail level to present product to consumers, may contain a covered commodity from more than one country of origin and/or more than one method of production (wild and farm-raised) provided all possible origins and/or methods of production are listed. (e) In general, country abbreviations are not acceptable. Only those abbreviations approved for use under CBP rules, regulations, and policies, such as “U.K.” for “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”, “Luxemb” for Luxembourg, and “U.S. or USA” for the “United States” are acceptable. The adjectival form of the name of a country may be used as proper notification of the country(ies) of origin of imported commodities provided the adjectival form of the name does not appear with other words so as to refer to a kind or species of product. Symbols or flags alone may not be used to denote country of origin. (f) State or regional label designations are not acceptable in lieu of country of origin labeling. Recordkeeping § 60.400 Recordkeeping requirements. (a) General. (2) Upon request by USDA representatives, suppliers and retailers subject to this subpart shall make available to USDA representatives, records maintained in the normal course of business that verify an origin claim and method of production (wild and/or farm-raised). Such records shall be provided within 5 business days of the request and may be maintained in any location. (b) Responsibilities of suppliers. (2) Any intermediary supplier handling a covered commodity that is found to be designated incorrectly as to the country of origin and/or method of production (wild and/or farm-raised) shall not be held liable for a violation of the Act by reason of the conduct of another if the intermediary supplier relied on the designation provided by the initiating supplier or other intermediary supplier, unless the intermediary supplier willfully disregarded information establishing that the country of origin and/or method of production (wild and/or farm-raised) declaration was false. (3) Any person engaged in the business of supplying a covered commodity to a retailer, whether directly or indirectly (i.e., including but not limited to harvesters, producers, distributors, handlers, and processors), must maintain records to establish and identify the immediate previous source (if applicable) and immediate subsequent recipient of a covered commodity for a period of 1 year from the date of the transaction. (4) For an imported covered commodity (as defined in § 60.200(f)), the importer of record as determined by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, must ensure that records: provide clear product tracking from the port of entry into the United States to the immediate subsequent recipient and accurately reflect the country of origin and method of production (wild and/or farm-raised) of the item as identified in relevant CBP entry documents and information systems; and must maintain such records for a period of 1 year from the date of the transaction. (c) Responsibilities of retailers. (2) Records and other documentary evidence relied upon at the point of sale to establish a covered commodity's country(ies) of origin and designation of wild and/or farm-raised must either be maintained at the retail facility or at another location for as long as the product is on hand and provided to any duly authorized representative of USDA in accordance with § 60.400(a)(2). For pre-labeled products, the label itself is sufficient information on which the retailer may rely to establish the product's origin and method(s) of production (wild and/or farm-raised) and no additional records documenting origin and method of production information are necessary. (3) Records that identify the covered commodity, the retail supplier, and for products that are not pre-labeled, the country of origin information and the method(s) of production (wild and/or farm-raised) must be maintained for a period of 1 year from the date the declaration is made at retail. (4) Any retailer handling a covered commodity that is found to be designated incorrectly as to the country of origin and/or the method of production (wild and/or farm-raised) shall not be held liable for a violation of the Act by reason of the conduct of another if the retailer relied on the designation provided by the supplier, unless the retailer willfully disregarded information establishing that the country of origin and/or method of production declaration was false. Subpart B [Reserved]