by Marc Kovac
Capital Bureau Chief
A state lawmaker panel let stand new dairy product label rules proposed by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, and the director intends to make them official in May.
The Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review technically has jurisdiction over the rules until May 11, according to information distributed to attendees at its meeting at the Statehouse April 21.
But JCARR did not move to invalidate the dairy labeling rules, meaning they will stand as submitted, said Sen. Tom Niehaus, a Republican from New Richmond, who serves as chairman of the committee.
Cindy Brown, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture, said the rules will remain in the JCARR waiting period until the committee's jurisdiction over them ends. On the following day, Director Robert Boggs is expected to sign a journal entry for them to take effect.
"We are going forward as it is filed," she said. Last month, the Ohio Department of Agriculture re-filed rules controlling the use of artificial hormone absence claims and other wording on dairy product labels, altering an earlier version submitted to JCARR. The changed version reduce the size of a disclaimer required on labels noting products came from herds not injected with artificial hormones and allows other production claims, provided they are verifiable.
The April 21 hearing included comments from fewer than 10 speakers, including Janene Holmes, marketing assistant from Smith Dairy in Orrville, who said the new rules would be costly for the company to implement and would limit its ability to clearly and concisely communicate with consumers.