No final label may be used on any product unless the label has been submitted for approval to the FSIS Labeling and Program Delivery Staff, accompanied by FSIS Form 7234-1, Application for Approval of Labels, Marking, and Devices, and approved by such staff, except for generically approved labels authorized for use in § 412.2. The management of the official establishment or establishment certified under a foreign inspection system, in accordance with parts 327 and 381, subpart T, must maintain a copy of all labels used, in accordance with parts 320 and 381, subpart Q, of this chapter. Such records must be made available to any duly authorized representative of the Secretary upon request.

All labels required to be submitted for approval as set forth in paragraph (a) of this section will be submitted to the FSIS Labeling and Program Delivery Staff. A parent company for a corporation may submit only one label application for a product produced in other establishments that are owned by the corporation.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service requires the submission of labeling applications for the following:

Sketch labels as defined in paragraph (d) of this section for products which are produced under a religious exemption;

Sketch labels for products for foreign commerce whose labels deviate from FSIS regulations, with the exception of printing labels in foreign language or printing labels that bear a statement of the quantity of contents in accordance with the usage of the country to which exported as described in § 317.7 and part 381, subpart M of this chapter.

Special statements and claims as defined in paragraph (e) of this section and presented in the context of a final label.

Requests for the temporary use of final labels as prescribed in paragraph (f) of this section.

A “sketch” label is the concept of a label. It may be a printer's proof or equivalent that is sufficiently legible to clearly show all labeling features, size, and location. The Food Safety and Inspection Service will accept sketches that are hand drawn or computer generated, or other reasonable facsimiles that clearly reflect and project the final version of the label.

“Special statements and claims” are claims, logos, trademarks, and other symbols on labels that are not defined in the Federal meat and poultry products inspection regulations or the Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book, (except for “natural” and negative claims (e.g., “gluten free”)), health claims, ingredient and processing method claims (e.g., high-pressure processing), structure-function claims, claims regarding the raising of animals, organic claims, and instructional or disclaimer statements concerning pathogens (e.g., “for cooking only” or “not tested for E. coli O157:H7”). Examples of logos and symbols include graphic representations of hearts and geographic landmarks. Special statements and claims do not include allergen statements (e.g., “contains soy”) applied in accordance with the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act.

Temporary approval for the use of a final label that may be deemed deficient in some particular may be granted by the FSIS Labeling and Program Delivery Staff. Temporary approvals may be granted for a period not to exceed 180 calendar days, under the following conditions:

The proposed label would not misrepresent the product;

The use of the label would not present any potential health, safety, or dietary problems to the consumer;

Denial of the request would create undue economic hardship; and

An unfair competitive advantage would not result from the granting of the temporary approval.

Extensions of temporary approvals may also be granted by the FSIS Labeling and Program Delivery Staff provided that the applicant demonstrates that new circumstances, meeting the above criteria, have developed since the original temporary approval was granted.