The California company already so labels its bagged fruit and packing boxes. It said the government’s proposed mandatory regulations had too many bureaucratic and implementation issues. It hopes a successful voluntary program may result in more sensible regulations.
Congress delayed for two years implementation of mandatory labeling for everything except seafood. But COOL supporters, including Rep. Mary Bono (R-CA), continued to press for restoring the September 2004 compliance date. She introduced legislation that would both restore the compliance date and streamline the labeling program.
