Program objective

The Federal Seed Program prevents mislabeled seed from moving in interstate commerce by providing for random sampling of seeds to insure accurate labeling of seed characteristics. The Pesticide Data Program works with participating States to collect and analyze data on pesticide use and residue levels for selected commodities in the nation's food supply. This program provides statistically based data to Federal agencies for use in making policy decisions for regulatory and educational purposes. Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) is a labeling law that requires retailers (ie grocery stores) to notify their customers of the country of origin for covered commodities: muscle cut and ground meats for lamb, goat, and chicken; wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish (including method of production); fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables; peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, and ginseng. The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS) requires food manufacturers, importers and other entities that label foods for retail sale to disclose information about bioengineered (BE) foods and BE food ingredients. This program requires AMS regulatory authorities to respond to stakeholder inquiries, monitor complaints and enforce labeling requirements. An annual update is required to the List of Bioengineered Foods (List) that tells regulated entities which foods they must keep records for and which foods may require BE disclosures. This program provides scientific fellowships that monitor the development of new technologies and contributes to BE policy decisions.