While hardly a final verdict, a report on compliance with a new mandatory country-of-origin labeling rule is not encouraging.
According to the government, in recent tests, many retailers either didn’t put any signs up indicating a fruit or vegetable’s country of origin or, when they did, they got it wrong.
Inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture gave 608 stores the equivalent of an “A” for compliance. But more than 1,400 others had at least one noncompliance issue.
Of all food categories covered under the new rule, fruits and vegetables accounted for more than half of all compliance violations.
While initially we were concerned that many produce managers may know more about fruits and vegetables than the inspectors checking compliance, it appears that, at least so far, the testing has been fair.
Some retailers have said as much.
For the next test to yield a better grade, it’s crucial that growers and importers keep the lines of communications with retailers open.
It’s not enough to make sure the front-office types understand the new COOL regulations. Early testing has indicated that most mistakes have been made at the store level.
Retailers must do a better job of making sure the department manager in Store X is as well-educated as the vice president of perishables.
Fortunately, the government is not taking a heavy-handed approach in the early going of the mandatory COOL era.
Retailers and suppliers will only be fined if there is a willful disregard for the law and no attempt to comply.
But this grace period won’t last forever. Retailers who fail to take the new rule seriously could be in for a rude awakening.
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