COOL: Co-mingle among yourselves

Retailers will be allowed to co-mingle produce of various origin in bulk displays, so long as the signage accounts for all possible origins. I'm not sure if consumers will find this approach very appealing, and retailers may take this approach at their own risk, IMHO.

From the interim final rule:


With regard to markings, in addition to the change made by the 2008 Farm Bill with respect to State, region, and locality labels, which is further discussed below, the Agency has made
several changes to provide for increased flexibility in labeling. In general, these changes mirror the changes that were made to the marking provisions contained in the interim final rule for fish and shellfish as a result of comments received on the proposed rule. Many commenters requested the use of check boxes to convey origin information. Other commenters requested that bulk commodities should be allowed to be commingled in bins as long as the signage indicates the countries of origin of the contents of the bin. Numerous other commenters recommended that State and regional designations should be accepted in lieu of country of origin. For a more complete discussion of the relevant comments, readers are invited to review the interim final rule for fish and shellfish. Accordingly, under this interim final rule, the declaration of the country of origin of a product may be in the form of a check box provided it is in conformance with other Federal labeling laws. Also, under this final rule, a bulk container
(e.g., display case, shipper, bin, carton, and barrel), used at the retail level to present product to consumers, may contain a covered commodity from more than one country of origin rovided all possible origins are listed. Under the proposed rule, the use of check boxes was not expressly allowed and covered commodities from more than one origin that were offered for sale in a bulk container were required to be individually labeled. Under the proposed rule, State or regional label designations were not permitted in lieu of country of origin. However, the 2008 Farm Bill, and thus this interim final rule, expressly authorize the use of State, regional, or locality label designations in lieu of country of origin for perishable agricultural commodities, peanuts, pecans, ginseng, and macadamia nuts.