seems to result in many products being excluded from labeling?
A. The definition of a processed food item developed for this rule has taken into account comments from affected entities and has resulted in excluding products that would be more costly and troublesome for retailers and suppliers to provide country of origin information. This definition is based on the definition for this term that was published in the interim final rule for fish and shellfish on October 5, 2004. Because the rule for the remaining covered commodities was also issued as an interim final rule and gave regulated parties only 60 days to implement it, USDA felt the best approach was to maintain the same definition that was used in the fish and shellfish program, which has been operating in retail stores for three years and provides retailers with a clear line as to what items require labeling. There is a 60-day comment period for the interim final rule, which closes on September 30, 2008. USDA will consider all comments received as it drafts a final rule for all covered co
