BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF LIVESTOCK

OF THE STATE OF MONTANA

 

In the matter of the adoption of NEW RULE I pertaining to label review

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NOTICE OF ADOPTION

 

TO: All Concerned Persons

 

1. On July 10, 2020, the Department of Livestock published MAR Notice No. 32-20-308 regarding the proposed adoption of the above-stated rule at page 1278 of the 2020 Montana Administrative Register, Issue Number 13. 

 

2. The department has adopted the following rule as proposed, but with the following changes from the original proposal, new matter underlined, deleted matter interlined:

 

NEW RULE I (32.6.715)  LABEL REVIEW (1) through (4) remain as proposed.  

(5)  The department's acceptance of a label is valid for two three years from the date the acceptance was issued unless the department provides a shorter time period in its acceptance. Establishments must resubmit labels for renewal after the acceptance period has expired.

(6) remains as proposed. 

 

3. The department has thoroughly considered the comments and testimony received. A summary of the comments received and the department's responses are as follows:

 

COMMENT #1: The commenter supports review of labels by the department but is concerned about the burden a two-year re-approval timeline would put on the department's label specialist and worried that plants would be out of compliance and unable to produce those products if labels were not reapproved by the deadline.

RESPONSE #1:  The department agrees that label review is an important service and thanks the commenter. Based on this comment and others received, the department has amended the rule to extend the renewal period to three years.

 

COMMENT #2: The commenter believes that the two-year renewal period is overly burdensome to state-inspected establishments.

RESPONSE #2:  The renewal process for labels with no changes will be very simple, and to reduce the burden on establishments the department has extended the renewal period to three years. 

 

COMMENT #3: The commenter states that the federal labeling regulation is much easier than the proposed rule and that only labels with ingredient changes should be required to be resubmitted.

RESPONSE #3: The department strongly believes that label review is an important service for state-inspected establishments, many of which do not have the resources to consult an outside expert on complicated label requirements. The department has found that many state-inspected establishments are not aware of when an ingredient change occurs because suppliers do not usually announce changes to common spice mixes or other multi-component ingredients. This rule is intended to help make establishments more aware of when there is a need to update their labels. For labels with no changes, the renewal process will be very simple, and the department has extended the renewal period to three years to further reduce the burden on establishments.

 

 

BY:      /s/ Michael S. Honeycutt                             BY:      /s/ Cinda Young-Eichenfels

            Michael S. Honeycutt                                              Cinda Young-Eichenfels

            Executive Director                                                   Rule Reviewer

            Board of Livestock

            Department of Livestock

           

Certified to the Secretary of State September 29, 2020.