USDA today published its “Product of USA” final rule, which will allow voluntary “Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” label claims to be used on meat, poultry, and egg products only when they are derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered, and processed in the United States. Under the final rule, the “Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” label claim will remain eligible for generic label approval, and will, therefore, not need to be pre-approved by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) before it can be used on regulated product. It will, however, require the establishment to maintain documentation on file to support the claim. The final rule also allows the use of other voluntary U.S.-origin claims on meat, poultry, and egg products sold in the marketplace. These claims will need to include a description on the package of the preparation and processing steps that occurred in the U.S. upon which the claim is made.
USDA has also published an updated labeling guidance on the use of voluntary U.S. origin label claims to provide examples of claims and the types of documentation that establishments may maintain to support use of the claims. Establishments choosing to include voluntary U.S.-origin claims on the labels of FSIS-regulated products will need to comply with the new labeling regulations by January 1, 2026.
Consistent with the proposed rule, the final rule will apply to products sold in the domestic market. For products exported from the U.S., FSIS will continue to verify that labeling requirements for the applicable country are met, as shown in the FSIS Export Library. FSIS maintains that no new export verification programs will be required under this new rule.
Posted in FDA and USDA Regulatory Update, Foods.