Congress Repeals Consumers’ Right-To-Know: Country-of-Origin-Labeling for Beef and Pork

A little-known but important law was partially repealed last month with the passing of the omnibus spending bill on December 18th, 2015.
Congress Repeals Consumers’ Right-To-Know: Country-of-Origin-Labeling for Beef and Pork
The Country-of-Origin-Labeling law (COOL), passed in 2008, mandated retailers, such as grocery stores and supermarkets, to provide customers with certain information regarding the source of specific foods, including some meat, fish, produce, nuts, etc. COOL mandated the inclusion of where the meat animal was born, raised, and slaughtered. The omnibus bill < ahref="http://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/FAQs - COOL Beef Pork Repeal.pdf">repealed all the COOL requirements for beef and pork.

The decision came as a result of Canadian and Mexican meat producers, who argued that their imported meat products were being discriminated against by the mandatory labeling. Canada and Mexico went to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to protest the law, asserting that it violated WTO limits on product regulations that WTO member countries are allowed to enact. The WTO ruled that the labeling did in fact discriminate against the imported meat products, and subsequently provided Canada and Mexico with the authority to retaliate by imposing up to $1 billion in tariffs on the United States.

The repeal has been met with both praise and criticism. Praise is coming primarily from the meat industry, as well as lawmakers concerned with the potential tariff costs that could pose significant economic distress to a variety of American industries that rely on imports from our two neighboring countries. Advocates of consumer rights are criticizing the bill as yet another way for the food industry to be less transparent. A survey conducted by the Consumer Federation of America found that 90% of respondents were in favor of requiring food sellers to indicate country of origin on their fresh meat.

In light of the COOL requirements repeal, transparency in the meat industry will suffer. It will be more difficult for consumers to know where their food is coming from if they purchase meat from grocery stores and supermarkets, perhaps making it more important than ever for mindful consumers to look to their local farmers and producers to purchase these products.
Sign Up or Sign In to comment
Total comments: 0
 
 
 
 
Please Wait, Loading...
Please Wait, Loading...
 
 
 
In order to post on the forum you have to sigh in
tmp imgtmp img