Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 15, 1993 TAG: 9310150174
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The new regulations, which would affect about 20 billion meat packages per year, were to go into effect today.
Retailers have been gearing up for the last two months to comply with the new labeling rules, so shoppers probably will see some of the new safe-handling instructions on labels of meat products. But the decision throws the future of the labeling requirement into uncertainty.
The decision is the result of a lawsuit filed Sept. 23 in U.S. District Court in Austin, Texas, by three trade groups representing wholesalers, food service distributors and retailers. They asked the court to overturn the Agriculture Department's regulations based on the department's alleged failure to follow the proper administrative procedures in issuing them.
The suit by the grocers' group argued that the department did not establish a "good cause" for circumventing the federal government's standard notice-and-comment period when issuing regulations.
In his decision, U.S. District Judge James R. Nowlin agreed with the grocers' group, and wrote that the USDA "has not demonstrated any reason that would justify a departure from the normal rulemaking procedures" of the Administrative Procedures Act.
A spokesman for the Agriculture Department said Thursday night that a decision had not been made on whether to appeal the decision or take other action.
Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy said in a statement that he was "extremely disappointed in the decision" and continued to believe that the label "is fundamental in our effort to prevent consumers, and especially children, from getting ill all across this country due to improper handling and cooking of meat and poultry products."
by CNB