Senate Bill 2668

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 69-1-307, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING FOR CERTAIN GROUND MEATS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 69-1-307, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

69-1-307. (1) United States country of origin. A retailer of a covered commodity that is beef, lamb, pork, chicken or goat meat * * *~~may~~ shall designate the covered commodity as exclusively having a United States country of origin only if the covered commodity is derived from an animal that was:

(a) Exclusively born, raised and slaughtered in the United States; or

(b) Born and raised in Alaska or Hawaii and transported for a period of not more than sixty (60) days through Canada to the United States and slaughtered in the United States.

(2) A retailer of a covered commodity that is beef, lamb, pork, chicken or goat meat * * *~~may~~ shall designate the country of origin of the covered commodity as all of the countries in which the animal may have been born, raised or slaughtered, if the commodity is derived from an animal that was:

(a) Not exclusively born, raised and slaughtered in the United States; or

(b) Born, raised or slaughtered in the United States; and

(3) A retailer of a covered commodity that is beef, lamb, pork, chicken or goat meat that is derived from an animal imported into the United States for immediate slaughter shall designate the origin as:

(a) The country from which the animal was imported; and

(b) The United States.

(4) A retailer of a covered commodity that is beef, lamb, pork, chicken or goat meat derived from an animal not born, raised or slaughtered in the United States shall designate a country other than the United States as the country of origin.

(5) The notice of country of origin for ground beef, ground pork, ground lamb, ground chicken or ground goat shall include:

(a) A list of all countries of origin of the ground beef, ground pork, ground lamb, ground chicken or ground goat; or

(b) A list of all possible countries of origin of the ground beef, ground pork, ground lamb, ground chicken or ground goat.

(6) All labels shall comply with federal regulation and not obscure other labeling information required by federal regulation. All labels shall comply with the country abbreviations for use under customs and border protection rules, regulation and policies. A symbol or flag alone shall not be used to denote a country of origin.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2017.