Country of Origin Labeling: An Update

Another step in the multi-year development and implementation of Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) was completed at the end of October when USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published proposed rules for mandatory COOL. These proposed rules, published in the Federal Register on October 30, 2003, provided AMS’s requirements for compliance with COOL and clarification of some issues raised through public comment on the voluntary COOL guidelines released last year. Additionally, AMS offered a summary of research identifying costs and benefits of the program and its own cost assessment