PART 65—COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING OF LAMB, CHICKEN, AND GOAT MEAT, PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, MACADAMIA NUTS, PECANS, PEANUTS, AND GINSENG Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq. Source: 74 FR 2704, Jan. 15, 2009, unless otherwise noted. Subpart A—General Provisions Definitions § 65.100 Act. Act et seq. § 65.105 AMS. AMS § 65.115 Born. Born § 65.120 Chicken. Chicken § 65.125 Commingled covered commodities. Commingled covered commodities § 65.130 Consumer package. Consumer package § 65.135 Covered commodity. (a) Covered commodity (1) Muscle cuts of lamb, chicken, and goat; (2) Ground lamb, ground chicken, and ground goat; (3) Perishable agricultural commodities; (4) Peanuts; (5) Macadamia nuts; (6) Pecans; and (7) Ginseng. (b) Covered commodities are excluded from this part if the commodity is an ingredient in a processed food item as defined in § 65.220. [74 FR 2704, Jan. 15, 2009, as amended at 81 FR 10761, Mar. 2, 2016] § 65.140 Food service establishment. Food service establishment § 65.145 Ginseng. Ginseng § 65.150 Goat. Goat § 65.160 Ground chicken. Ground chicken § 65.165 Ground goat. Ground goat § 65.170 Ground lamb. Ground lamb § 65.180 Imported for immediate slaughter. Imported for immediate slaughter § 65.185 Ingredient. Ingredient § 65.190 Lamb. Lamb § 65.195 Legible. Legible § 65.205 Perishable agricultural commodity. Perishable agricultural commodity § 65.210 Person. Person § 65.218 Pre-labeled. Pre-labeled § 65.220 Processed food item. Processed food item [81 FR 10761, Mar. 2, 2016] § 65.225 Produced. Produced § 65.230 Production step. Production step § 65.235 Raised. Raised § 65.240 Retailer. Retailer [78 FR 31385, May 24, 2013] § 65.245 Secretary. Secretary § 65.250 Slaughter. Slaughter § 65.255 United States. United States § 65.260 United States country of origin. United States country of origin (a) Beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and goat: (1) From animals exclusively born, raised, and slaughtered in the United States; (2) From animals born and raised in Alaska or Hawaii and transported for a period of not more than 60 days through Canada to the United States and slaughtered in the United States; or (3) From animals present in the United States on or before July 15, 2008, and once present in the United States, remained continuously in the United States. (b) Perishable agricultural commodities, peanuts, ginseng, pecans, and macadamia nuts: from products produced in the United States. § 65.265 USDA. USDA Country of Origin Notification § 65.300 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) Labeling covered commodities of United States Origin. (e) Labeling muscle cut covered commodities of multiple countries of origin from animals slaughtered in the United States. (f) Labeling imported covered commodities. (2) Muscle cut covered commodities derived from an animal that was slaughtered in another country shall retain their origin, as declared to U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the time the product entered the United States, through retail sale (e.g., “Product of Country X”), including muscle cut covered commodities derived from an animal that was born and/or raised in the United States and slaughtered in another country. In addition, the origin declaration may include more specific location information related to production steps (i.e., born, raised, and slaughtered) provided records to substantiate the claims are maintained and the claim is consistent with other applicable Federal legal requirements. (g) Labeling commingled covered commodities. (h) Labeling ground lamb, ground goat, and ground chicken. (i) Remotely purchased products. [74 FR 2704, Jan. 15, 2009, as amended at 78 FR 31385, May 24, 2013; 81 FR 10761, Mar. 2, 2016] § 65.400 Labeling. (a) Country of origin declarations can either be in the form of a placard, sign, label, sticker, band, twist tie, pin tag, or other format that allows consumers to identify the country of origin. The declaration of the country of origin of a product may be in the form of a statement such as “Product of USA,” “Produce of the USA”, or “Grown in Mexico,” may only contain the name of the country such as “USA” or “Mexico,” or may be in the form of a check box provided it is in conformance with other Federal labeling laws. (b) The declaration of the country of origin (e.g., placard, sign, label, sticker, band, twist tie, pin tag, or other display) must be legible and 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 country of origin 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 provided all possible origins are listed. (e) In general, country abbreviations are not acceptable. Only those abbreviations approved for use under Customs and Border Protection 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 of America” are acceptable. The adjectival form of the name of a country may be used as proper notification of the country 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) Domestic and imported perishable agricultural commodities, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, and ginseng may use State, regional, or locality label designations in lieu of country of origin labeling. Abbreviations may be used for state, regional, or locality label designations for these commodities whether domestically harvested or imported using official United States Postal Service abbreviations or other abbreviations approved by CBP. Recordkeeping § 65.500 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. Such records shall be provided within 5 business days of the request and may be maintained in any location. (b) Responsibilities of suppliers. i.e., (2) Any intermediary supplier handling a covered commodity that is found to be designated incorrectly as to the country of origin 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 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 growers, distributors, handlers, packers, 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 § 65.300(f)), the importer of record as determined by CBP, 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 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 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 § 65.500(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 no additional records documenting origin information are necessary. (3) Any retailer handling a covered commodity that is found to be designated incorrectly as to the country of origin 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 declaration was false. (4) Records that identify the covered commodity, the retail supplier, and for products that are not pre-labeled, the country of origin information must be maintained for a period of 1 year from the date the origin declaration is made at retail. [74 FR 2704, Jan. 15, 2009, as amended at 81 FR 10761, Mar. 2, 2016] Subpart B [Reserved]