Country of origin declarations and method of production (wild and/or farm-raised) designations can either be in the form of a placard, sign, label, sticker, band, twist tie, pin tag, or other format that provides country of origin and method of production information. The country of origin declaration and method of production (wild and/or farm-raised) designation may be combined or made separately. Except as provided in § 60.200(g) and 60.200(h) of this regulation, the declaration of the country(ies) of origin of a product shall be listed according to applicable Federal legal requirements. Country of origin declarations may be in the form of a check box provided it is in conformance with other Federal legal requirements. Various forms of the production designation are acceptable, including “wild caught”, “wild”, “farm-raised”, “farmed”, or a combination of these terms for blended products that contain both wild and farm-raised fish or shellfish, provided it can be readily understood by the consumer and is in conformance with other Federal labeling laws. Designations such as “ocean caught”, “caught at sea”, “line caught”, “cultivated”, or “cultured” are not acceptable substitutes. Alternatively, method of production (wild and/or farm-raised) designations may be in the form of a check box.

The declaration of the country(ies) of origin and method(s) of production (wild and/or farm-raised) (e.g., placard, sign, label, sticker, band, twist tie, pin tag, or other display) must be placed in a conspicuous location, so as to render it likely to be read and understood by a customer under normal conditions of purchase.

The declaration of the country(ies) of origin and the method(s) of production (wild and/or farm-raised) may be typed, printed, or handwritten provided it is in conformance with other Federal labeling laws and does not obscure other labeling information required by other Federal regulations.

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 and/or more than one method of production (wild and farm-raised) provided all possible origins and/or methods of production are listed.

In general, country abbreviations are not acceptable. Only those abbreviations approved for use under CBP rules, regulations, and policies, such as “U.K.” for “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”, “Luxemb” for Luxembourg, and “U.S. or USA” for the “United States” are acceptable. The adjectival form of the name of a country may be used as proper notification of the country(ies) of origin of imported commodities provided the adjectival form of the name does not appear with other words so as to refer to a kind or species of product. Symbols or flags alone may not be used to denote country of origin.

State or regional label designations are not acceptable in lieu of country of origin labeling.