'Country of origin labeling' topic heats up

From Staff Reports

February 6, 2003 -- Costs of COOL (country-of-origin labeling) are being further studied, and debated, among several farm organizations. Because of this, USDA has granted a 30-day extension to the COOL comment period, which now ends Feb. 21.

As required under the 2002 farm bill, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued voluntary COOL guidlines for certain commodities. Under the guidelines, fresh and frozen beef, veal, lamb, pork, fish, fruits and vegetables, and peanuts may be labeled at retail to indicate their country of origin. The labeling becomes mandatory at the retail level by September 2004.

A report published Jan. 17 by Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) pointed out that poultry will be exempt from the guidelines, a provision granted due to the industry's lobbyists. TFB's report also noted labeling provisions pertain to the retail level, and not the foodservice level.

American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), which held its annual convention Jan. 19-23, cited they have "concerns over the plan's record-keeping requirements and labeling conditions."

In November 2002, USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) reported the cost for producers to comply with COOL's record-keeping requirements would be nearly $1 billion.

"To reach the $1 billion figure, AMS assumed all 2 million commercial farms, ranches, and fishermen would implement a system for voluntary labeling of products produced. AMS estimated it would take a day to generate the proper records for the labeling program and one hour per month to maintain those records, with an estimate of $25 per hour for a producer's value of time," noted an AFBF report.

AFBF, in its comments to AMS, estimated the producer's record-keeping cost to be higher. AFBF said the cost of meeting the record-keeping requirements would be $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion because "the time requirement for most producers will be double or triple the one-hour-per-month time estimate." The total cost to producers to implement and maintain the proposed system would be $2 billion to $2.8 billion, the organization said on Jan. 20.

On Jan. 27, R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America told USDA's Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs William Hawks, that their organization "will help U.S. cattle producers comply with any final rules for mandaory country of origin labeling."

R-CALF's COOL Committee Chair Danni Beer said her organization is proposing a plan to ensure that mandatory labeling benefits producers and consumers at a very low cost to the industry.

Beer said USDA's $2 billion cost estimate for voluntary labeling is grossly overstated because it assume no records are kept by any segment of the industry that can help determine if cattle originated in the United States. The estimate also ignores existing programs such as the Federal Purchase Program in which 49 packing palnts participate to certify the origin of meat.

Beer also pointed out that despite the deficiencies in USDA's cost estimate, the nation's largest beef packer, Tyson/IBP, has mailed flyers to producers urging them to call Congress to ask for the repeal of country of origin labeling. "IBP is using USDA's unsupported cost estimate to scare producers into giving up on country of origin labeling," she said.

Comments on the COOL issue should be sent to three places: 1) Country of Origin Labeling Program, Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA STOP 0249, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington DC 20250-0249, faxed to (202) 720-3499, or sent by e-mail to cool@usda.gov; 2) Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, 725 17th St. NW, Room 725, Washington DC 20503, Attention: Desk Officer; and to 3) Clearance Officer, USDA-OCIO, Room 404-W, Jamie L. Whitten Building, STOP 7602, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington DC 20250-7602.

All comments will become a matter of public record. Comments will be available for public inspection from the Agricultural Marketing Service at the above address and over the agency's website: www.ams.usda.gov/cool/.