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distinct categories of origin designations for muscle cut
covered commodities. Accordingly, these suggestions are not
adopted. With regard to the suggestions to reduce the
enforcement of the COOL program, this is not within the scope of
this rulemaking. The Agency notes, however, that it plans to
review its current enforcement procedures to determine if
changes should be made.
Summary of Comments: A number of commenters provided
recommendations that are outside the scope of the proposed rule,
including: food establishments should be covered because 48% of
spending on food occurs at restaurants; the definition of
processed should be narrowed such that more products are
covered; turkey should be a covered commodity; the definition of
ground beef should be narrowed; COOL is not food safety related
and the Agency should clarify that mislabeling will not result
in a recall; the Agency should disallow the 60-day inventory
allowance for ground meat; the Agency should remove the burden
on producers of requiring affidavits.
Agency Response: Because these recommendations are outside
the scope of this rulemaking, they will not be considered.
Costs and Benefits
Proposal Adds Significant Costs
Summary of Comments: Several commenters stated their
belief that the recordkeeping and verification processes
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