On January 20, 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a final rule establishing a federal “USDA Certified Biobased Product” label program. USDA was required to establish the program under Section 9002 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, as amended by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. Under the voluntary labeling program, a biobased product, after being certified by USDA, can be marketed using the ‘‘USDA Certified Biobased Product’’ label. The presence of the label will mean that the product meets USDA standards for the amount of biobased content and that the manufacturer or vendor has provided relevant information on the product for the USDA BioPreferred Program Web site.
The new label is a significant step forward to increase awareness of the economic, energy security and environmental benefits of biobased products.
You can learn more in this summery document from the USDA.
For more information on the voluntary labeling initiative, go to USDA’s BioPreferredSM program website’s Label Page. You may also contact Kate Lewis, USDA BioPreferred Deputy Program Manager, at kate.lewis@dm.usda.gov or 202-720-0811 with additional questions.