Be COOL

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Billings, Mont. – R-CALF USA applauds today's introduction by Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) a congressional resolution calling on the rest of Congress to "reinstate County-of-Origin labeling for pork and beef to allow consumers to make an informed and free choice about where their food comes from."

Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) was passed by Congress in 2002 and required retailers to affix labels denoting the country of origin of many food products, including beef. However, COOL was not fully implemented for beef until May of 2013.

Upon its 2013 implementation for beef, the COOL law mandated that the foreign labels on all imported beef be retained through retail sale, meaning all the way to the consumer. It also required all beef from animals slaughtered in the U.S. to be labeled as to where the animal had been born, raised and slaughtered.

"With these two essential provisions, consumers were accurately informed as to which beef originated exclusively in foreign countries, in one or more countries, and which beef was exclusively produced by U.S. cattle farmers and ranchers right here in the United States," said R-CALF USA COOL Committee Chair Mike Schultz.

Schultz said the 2013 implementation of COOL coincided with stronger cattle prices that helped strengthen America's shrinking cattle industry.

https://www.r-calfusa.com/ranch-group-applauds-start-of-congressional-effort-to-reinstate-cool-for-beef/

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Corbitt touched on this Friday.

https://youtu.be/ybLfFMuBUHg

Here's another bill that's been introduced.

https://americanagnetwork.com/2019/11/south-dakota-senators-introduce-beef-integrity-act/

 

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From your link - Notice our beloved NCBA - They will fight COOL

Senators Mike Rounds and John Thune this week took steps to keep beef born, raised and slaughtered in foreign countries from receiving a "Product of the U.S.A." label. The South Dakota republicans say the U.S. Beef Integrity Act would make certain that the "Product of the U.S.A." label only goes to beef and beef products exclusively derived from animals born, raised and slaughtered in the United States. Currently, the Food Safety and Inspection Service does not require that beef be born, raised and slaughtered in the U.S. in order to carry a "Product of the U.S.A." label.

The U.S. Cattlemen's Association says the legislation would "immediately close the loophole," and allow for a continued push towards establishing of a country-of-origin labeling program. However, the National Cattlemen's Association says, "In general, NCBA members are opposed to requesting additional government regulation on our industry." The organization recently formed a working group to gather information regarding labeling practices to "fully understand the scope of the issue" and seek solutions.