BREAKING NEWS: Final Bioengineering Rule Announced

December 20, 2018

BREAKING NEWS

Greetings!

Today the USDA announced the long awaited final rule on the National Bioengineered (BE) Food Disclosure Standard ("the GMO labeling law"). Two years ago, Congress passed a law requiring the USDA to establish a nationwide standard for disclosing the presence of bioengineered (BE) foods and ingredients, and to finalize it by July 29, 2018. According to the document released today, industry will have up to three years to comply.

In a statement to the media , Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said: “ The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard increases the transparency of our nation’s food system, establishing guidelines for regulated entities on when and how to disclose bioengineered ingredients. This ensures clear information and labeling consistency for consumers about the ingredients in their food. The Standard also avoids a patchwork state-by-state system that could be confusing to consumers .”

The Final Rule is scheduled to be formally published in the Federal Register tomorrow, December 21, and will be codified in 7 CFR Part 66. A new Branch Chief position with oversight responsibility for the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard is currently being sought by USDA.

Prime Label is pleased to provide you with an initial overview of the landmark rule:

Applicability

The rule applies to food manufacturers, importers and retailers who package and label foods for retail sale (including bulk food items). The law excludes meat, poultry, dairy and egg ingredients that come from animals that have eaten BE feed. Also excluded are USDA products that have amenable meat or poultry ingredients as the predominant ingredient.

Overall, the rule does NOT apply to:

foods served in restaurants & retail establishments
foods certified Organic
foods derived from an animal that consumed BE feed
pet food and animal feed
very small manufacturers
foods with very small amounts of bioengineered ingredients
incidental additives present in food at an insignificant levels

BE Ingredients Lists

In a change from the proposed rule, the USDA will create and maintain only one List of Bioengineered Foods *. This List will be updated through an annual review by AMS. Today the List of Bioengineered Foods includes:

alfalfa
potato
canola
corn
cotton

eggplant (BARI Bt Begun varieties)
papaya (ringspot virus resistant varieties)
pineapple (pink flesh varieties)
apple (ArcticTM varieties)
salmon (AquAdvantage®)

soybean
squash (summer)
sugarbeet

*Importantly however, if the food has been derived from a Bioengineered Food but no longer contains any genetic material , labeling is voluntary. (Refined sugar and refined oils are noted in the preamble as regularly not containing detectable genetic material and thus would not require mandatory disclosure.)

Disclosure Requirements

There are four options for making a BE disclosure*:

On-package text, e.g. “Bioengineered Food” or “Contains a Bioengineered Food Ingredient”
USDA approved symbol (at right)
Electronic or digital disclosure (must include additional instructions and a phone number)
Text message disclosure

*In addition to the above, small businesses have additional disclosure options of including a toll-free telephone number or website address on the food package.

Disclosure may be made on:

The information panel adjacent to the manufacturer/distributor information
The principal display panel
If there is insufficient space on either of those panels, then on any other panel likely to be seen by a consumer under ordinary shopping conditions

Implementation & Compliance

The USDA has published three dates critical to the implementation of this rule:

Effective date (date at which labels may begin displaying the disclosure)
60 days after publication (tomorrow)
Implementation date (date at which most planning for the disclosure should commence)
January 1, 2020 (most manufacturers)
January 1, 2021 (small manufacturers)
Mandatory Compliance date of January 1, 2022 (date at which ALL labels must have the disclosure)

In addition, the USDA has published a BE Disclosure webpage and an Industry Fact sheet to better help industry understand and comply with this new rule.

Records & Enforcement

Companies will be required to retain records of foods with BE ingredients for two years and produce them within five days of request. If food is found to be out of compliance, USDA will make public the summary of the final results of their investigation.

Learn More from USDA Regulators and Industry Experts

With the BE implementation date and Nutrition Label Reform changes only one short year away, industry needs to get a quick handle on this new government rule. T o help industry unpack the latest developments on Bioengineered (GMO) food regulations, Prime Label is adding three BE sessions to its upcoming Food Label Conference , held April 15-16, 2019 in Washington, DC:

General session overview of the new BE rule (USDA speaker invited)
Breakout sessions with a legal perspective of impact and risk of the rule
Add-on day-long Working group to develop best practices across the supply chain

This seminar will take a working group approach to assessing the pros and cons of different disclosure standards and implementation strategies and to developing a tactical roadmap that works across the entire supply chain.

Stay tuned - we'll notify our Label Alert subscribers as soon as new information is available!

Best,

Jesse Zuehlke, PhD

About the Food Label Conference

Prime Label Consultants has been host to the nation's premier food labeling conference since 1989. As food marketers and manufacturers are faced with one of their greatest challenges in two decades - to adjust to sweeping new nutrition and BE rules for packaged products - the Food Label Conference remains in high demand as the place to learn the latest about food labeling compliance. This year boasts an unprecedented range of educational opportunities with more than 35 different breakouts in addition to 9 optional Add-On Trainings. For more details on the Food Label Conference held April 15-16, 2019, click below:

Conference Website

Prime Label Consultants | 536 7th St SE | Washington, DC 20003