ROD SMITH, Feedstuffs Staff Editor

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After talking with packer/processor and retailer representatives, it's obvious that few plants or stores will participate in country-of-origin labeling (COOL) during the voluntary period underway now.

There is simply too much cost and liability for packers, processors and retailers, not to mention the cost and liability for farmers and ranchers, to engage in voluntary labeling, they told Feedstuffs during interviews shortly after guidelines for the voluntary phase were announced in October.

They noted that a few niches could develop where participants can capture competitive advantages, but they said they could not recommend to their members voluntary country-of-origin activity and said they don't see any COOL occurring on any kind of significant scale until it becomes mandatory in two years.

It's also obvious that the packer/processor and retailer sectors have been left shocked, worried and angry by the guidelines:

* Shocked because of the scope of the guidelines spokespeople said are more inclusive -- worse -- than expected.

* Worried because of the labels that could identify a cut of meat as having several countries of origin and because of the source verification that will be expected from farm to store, which the spokespeople said will be confusing and costly and may actually lose demand for meat.

* Angry because packers and retailers were, spokespeople said, "that close" to a voluntary labeling scheme that would have aggressively promoted U.S. meat when activist producers and populist politicians pulled the rug from under discussions with producer representatives and passed COOL, with its mandatory requirement.

COOL will be disruptive, if not unmanageable, they said, and could give Australia an opportunity to do to U.S. beef and Canada an opportunity to do to U.S. pork what New Zealand did to American lamb, and it could give poultry the final nail toward becoming the number-one protein in the meat case. Poultry is not covered by COOL.

COOL was established in the farm security act earlier this year in which all fresh and frozen muscle cuts of beef, pork, lamb, veal and fish marketed in retail stores must bear an origin label by Sept. 30, 2004. Also covered are fruit, produce and peanuts.

Guidelines were developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) for a voluntary COOL period and released in October (Feedstuffs, Oct. 7 and 14). AMS will consider public comment through March of next year and then will begin developing a final rule that will bring mandatory labeling into place.