US repeals country of origin information on meat products
04 Jan 2016
US agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack has ordered all grocery retailers to stop mentioning on packaging information on country of origin for all beef and pork products. Until last week, since 2002, retailers were required by law, to inform consumers where their beef and pork came from.
Since 1930, when Herbert Hoover was president, mentioning such information was implied as a mandatory requirement. Prior to that, the country of origin labeling, or COOL, was a matter of good practice by grocers.
The move to repeal labelling mandates were pushed in the Congress by industry bodies, including the US Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers.
According to the bodies, Congress and President Obama had to act immediately last month due to threats by Canada and Mexico to impose over $1 billion in retaliatory taxes, if US did not hide the origins of the beef and pork sold in US stores.
Filing complaints with the WTO, the two countries charged that US customers were biased against beef, pork and lamb products from Canada and Mexico, when US consumers knew what they were buying. The WTO agreed in respect of beef and pork, but labelling the origins of lamb was okay for now.
''US exporters can now breathe a sigh of relief,'' said Republican senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.
According to consumer groups, the measure came as a disappointment just as consumers were asking for more information on their food packages.
Advocates of labeling say labels helped people make more informed buying decisions and encourage purchases of US meat.
Advocacy group Food and Water Watch termed the bill, ''a holiday gift to the meatpacking industry from Congress.'' Meatpackers who bought Mexican cattle were among the most aggressive opponents of the law.
Roger Johnson of the National Farmers Union said the group was ''furious'' about the repeal.
''Packers will be able to once again deliberately deceive consumers,'' Johnson said.
