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Michigan State University

PKG 480: Packaging Laws & Regulations

Federal Laws and Regulations

Laws

Regulations

Instructions for using the CFR

Instructions for using the Code of Federal Regulations on GovInfo.gov(1996-present)

  • Search the Code of Federal Regulations. Identify the relevant CFR title(s) and part(s). Note the date of the CFR issue (given as the revision date in the upper left corner of the document).
  • Browse the latest monthly issue of the List of Sections Affected (LSA) for references to the CFR title(s) and part(s) identified above. The numbers are the pages in the Federal Register which contain changes to the particular CFR title(s) and part(s).
  • To identify changes made since the last monthly issue of the LSA, check the latest month, week and day as well. Note the Federal Register pages where changes are made (if any).
  • Search the Federal Register for the page numbers identified in steps 2 and 3 above. Make sure the correct FR volume and year are selected.

Going from the law to the CFR

Use the index volume of the CFR, labeled "CFR Index and Finding Aids." The "Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules" gives the following cross-references:

United States Code (USC) to CFR
Statutes at Large (Stat.) to CFR
Public Law (PL) to CFR
Presidential Documents to CFR 

Going from the CFR to the law

In the table of contents to the subparts of each CFR title you will find the following citations:

Authority: Gives Statutes at Large, United States Code, and Public Law citations for enabling legislation.
Source: Federal Register volume, page and date. 

Going from the Federal Register to the CFR and vice versa

Each rule and proposed rule in the Federal Register gives CFR citation.
CFR sections will give a reference to the Federal Register.