The marks, devices, and certificates prescribed or referenced in this part are official marks, devices, and certificates for the purposes of the Act respecting fish and fish products. The marks, devices, and certificates shall be used only in accordance with the regulations in this part.

(a)(1) The official inspection legend required by this part must be shown on all labels for inspected and passed fish and fish products and must be in the following form prescribed in 9 CFR 312.2(b)(1) for inspected and passed products of cattle, sheep, swine, and goats, or in another form to be prescribed by the Administrator, except that it need not be of the size illustrated, if it is of a sufficient size and color to be conspicuously displayed, and readily legible, and in the same proportions of letter size and boldness are maintained as illustrated:

(2) The official inspection legend shall contain the words “U.S. Inspected and Passed” or an abbreviation of those words approved by the Administrator.

(b) This official mark must be applied by mechanical means and must not be applied by a hand stamp.

(c)(1) The official inspection legend, or the approved abbreviation of the legend, must be printed on consumer packages and other immediate containers of inspected and passed fish products or on labels to be securely affixed to the containers of the products and may be printed or stenciled on the containers but must not be applied by rubber stamping.

(2) The official inspection legend may also be used for the purposes of marking shipping containers, band labels, and other articles with the approval of the Administrator.

(d) Whole gutted fish carcasses that have been inspected and passed in an official establishment and are intended for sale as whole gutted fish must be marked with the official inspection legend or properly packaged in an immediate container labeled with the official inspection legend and all other required labeling features, that will ensure that the fish carcasses are identified as “Inspected and Passed” and will not become misbranded while in commerce. The official inspection legend used for this purpose must be in the form illustrated below or in another form determined by the Administrator:

The official mark for use in sealing railroad cars, cargo containers, or other means of conveyance as prescribed in part 555 of this subchapter must be the inscription and serial number shown in 9 CFR 312.5 or another official mark approved by the Administrator. Any seal approved by the Administrator for applying the official mark is an official device for the purposes of the Act. The seal must be attached to the means of conveyance only by a Program employee, who shall also affix a “Warning Tag” (Form MP-408-3 or similar official form).

(a) The official export inspection mark for fish required by part 552 of this subchapter must be in the same form as that specified in 9 CFR 312.8(a) or otherwise as prescribed by the Administrator.

(b) The official export certificate for fish and fish products required by part 552 must be in the same form as that prescribed for meat and meat food products in 9 CFR 312.8(b) or otherwise as prescribed by the Administrator.

The official mark for shipments of articles and fish detained under this subchapter is the designation “U.S. Detained,” and the official device for applying the mark is the official “U.S. Detained” tag (FSIS Form 8400-2) as prescribed in 9 CFR 329.2 or otherwise by the Administrator.

(a) General labeling requirements. The requirements in part 317, subpart A, of this chapter, governing labels and labeling, safe-handling labeling, abbreviations of official marks, the use of approved labels, the labeling of products for foreign commerce, prohibited practices, the reuse of official inspection marks, filling of containers, relabeling of products, the storage and distribution of labels, and the requirements for packaging materials, apply to fish and fish products.

(b) A country of origin statement on the label of any fish “covered commodity” as defined in 7 CFR part 60, subpart A, that is sold by a “retailer,” as defined in 7 CFR 60.124, must comply with the requirements of 7 CFR 60.200 and 60.300.

(c) The safe handling instructions required on labels of fish and fish products specified in paragraph (a) of this section shall replace statements that include the terms “meat” and “poultry” with the following:

(1) In the rationale statement, “This product was prepared from inspected and passed fish. Some food products may contain bacteria that could cause illness if the product is mishandled and cooked improperly. For your protection, follow these safe handling instructions.” This statement shall be placed immediately after the heading and before the safe handling statements.

(2) In the labeling statements, “Keep raw fish separate from other foods. Wash working surfaces (including cutting boards), utensils, and hands after touching raw fish. (A graphic illustration of soapy hands under a faucet shall be displayed next to statement.)”

(d)(1) Labels and labeling of fish in the order Siluriformes and the products of those fish must bear the appropriate common or usual names of the fish. For example, among fish in the family Pangasiidae, the labels and labeling for fish of the species Pangasius bocourti must bear the term “basa”; for the species Pangasius hypophthalmus or Pangasionodon hypophthalmus, “swai,” “tra,” or “sutchi.”

(2) The labels and labeling only of fish and fish products within the family Icataluridae may bear the term “catfish.”

(e) The requirements in part 441 of this chapter, governing water retained from processing in raw meat and poultry, apply to retained water in fish. The requirements in part 442 of this chapter, governing quantity of contents labeling, the testing of scales, and the handling of product that is found to be out of compliance with net weight requirements, apply to fish and fish products.

(1) Packages of frozen or fresh-frozen fish carcasses or parts must be labeled to reflect 100-percent net weight after thawing. The de-glazed net weight must average 100 percent of the stated net weight of the frozen product when sampled and weighed according to the method prescribed in National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Handbook 133 Chapter 2, Section 2.6. 1

(2) [Reserved]

(f) Nutrition labeling. The requirements for nutrition labeling of meat and meat food products in part 317, subpart B, of this chapter, also apply to the labeling of fish and fish food products.

(g) Label approval. The requirements for the label approval of meat and meat food products in part 412 of this chapter, also apply to the labeling of fish and fish products.