The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week announced it will extend the comment period for the proposed rule that would implement mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) of certain meat and other food products.
Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) director A.J. Yates said the extension is being granted in response to comments from parties against and for mandatory COOL so that the agency ensures that all organizations and persons wishing to comment on the rule will have the opportunity to do so. "We strongly encourage all interested parties to submit comments," he said.
The comment period has been extended from Dec. 29 for 60 days to Feb. 27.
COOL was written into the 2002 farm bill and requires that all beef, pork, lamb, seafood and ground meat merchandised at retail be labeled, by Oct. 1, 2004, as the country, or countries, of origin of the animal, or animals, from which the product was produced (Feedstuffs, April 29, 2002). The law also covers fresh fruit and vegetables and peanuts but does not cover poultry or food products sold through foodservice formats.
AMS, the USDA agency charged with developing the rule, issued guidelines for voluntary labeling for use prior to the mandatory rule (Feedstuffs, Dec. 2, 2002) and considered public input on those guidelines in putting together the proposed rule that was published in October (Feedstuffs, Nov. 3).
COOL has sharply divided the beef and pork sectors between producers and trade associations against mandatory COOL -- which they argue is burdensome, costly and likely to decrease beef and pork competitiveness and demand -- and producers and trade groups for mandatory COOL -- which they argue is a consumer right-to-know issue and would increase demand for U.S.-labeled meat by clearly identifying products of U.S. and foreign origin.
The controversy led the House Agriculture Committee to insert language into the agriculture appropriations bill that directed AMS to cease development of the rule for beef and pork during fiscal 2004, which would delay implementation until Oct. 1, 2005 (Feedstuffs, Sept. 15).
The House language was amended in a House-Senate conference considering an omnibus package of appropriation bills, including agriculture spending, to allow for continued development of the rule but delaying implementation for two years until Oct. 1, 2006, for all covered commodities except seafood (Feedstuffs, Dec. 1). The House passed the omnibus package earlier this month, but the Senate refused to consider the omnibus package and will take it up Jan. 20 (Feedstuffs, Dec. 8 and 15).
Meanwhile, Sen. Charles Grassley (R., Iowa) said last week he expects the Senate to pass the omnibus package, which must be voted down or up in its entirety, and does not see the COOL delay stopped. The bill funds 11 cabinet-level departments and a number of other government offices.
However, he said he does expect the Senate, which has a number of members who are strong supporters of the rule, to work to accelerate implementation in the next appropriations process next year.
He said there will be considerable pressure for U.S. labels as Canadian beef and cattle receive renewed access to the U.S. in the aftermath of the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in one cow in one herd in Alberta in May. He said Japan, the largest export market for U.S. beef, will need certification that beef shipped to the country "originated in the U.S. and not in Canada."
Yates, whose agency is still working according to instructions in the 2002 law, said the extension would not prevent AMS from implementing mandatory COOL next October.
The proposed rule was published in the Oct. 30 Federal Register, and the extension was scheduled to be published in the Dec. 22 Federal Register. Comments may be sent no later than Feb. 27 via e-mail to cool@usda.gov or land mail to Country of Origin Labeling Program, AMS, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, USDA Stop 0249, Washington, D.C. 20250-0249.
The proposed rule and other information related to the rule can also be found at www.ams.usda.gov/cool.
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