U.S. Groups Continue To Push For COOL

The issue of Country of Origin Labeling, or COOL, remains a top priority for many in the meat and livestock industries.  Thirty-one groups representing the cattle, farm, and manufacturing industries, in addition to consumer groups, says they want answers when it comes to restoring mandatory country of origin labeling for meat.  R-Calf CEO Bill Bullard said a letter sent by the groups to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is asking for her help.

“So we're asking the trade ambassador to engage in this issue in order to provide assurances to Congress that they have the right to reinstate the law that was passed under the U.S. Constitution in the first place.”

Congress excluded beef and pork products from mandatory country of origin labeling nearly nine years ago.  But Bullard believes country of origin meat labeling greatly benefits consumers should face any legal scrutiny.

“Right now, we import from 20 different countries and consumers do not know from what country their beef is produced because there is no requirement for a label and even worse, some of that beef that is exclusively produced in a foreign country actually bears a product and USA label on it. And that's a problem that we've been trying to resolve.”

Bullard hopes to hear back from trade representative tai in the coming weeks about helping to restore mandatory country of origin meat labeling.

Click Here to read the letter sent to Katherine Tai.

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