What rulemaking activities has USDA completed for COOL?
A. AMS published “Guidelines for the Interim Voluntary Country of Origin Labeling of Beef, Lamb, Pork, Fish, Perishable Agricultural Commodities, and Peanuts” in the Federal Register on October 11, 2002 (67 FR 63367). During 2003, AMS held several “listening sessions” that provided interested parties and the public with an opportunity to make oral statements, to receive information about all aspects of COOL policy contained in the law, and to offer suggestions about how AMS might best go about implementing the program. Following a review and analysis of the comments received on the voluntary guidelines, and taking into consideration the policy requirements contained in the law, AMS published the proposed rule for mandatory COOL of all covered commodities (68 FR 61944) on October 30, 2003. On October 5, 2004, AMS published an interim final rule for fish and shellfish (69 FR 59708) that went into effect on April 5, 2005. On November 27, 2006, AMS reopened the comment period on the costs
