DORGAN LEADS CHARGE TO REVISE COUNTRY-OF-ORIGIN LABELING RULES IN THE INTEREST OF U.S. CONSUMERS

Senators call on Ag Secretary to revise rules that circumvent farm bill's intent

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

CONTACT: Justin Kitsch
or  Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) --- U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) is leading a group of Senate colleagues calling on incoming Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to revise pending country-of-origin (COOL) labeling rules that would circumvent the intent of the program and deprive American consumers of important information about the meat they buy at the grocery store.

When Congress approved the new farm bill last year, it included language intended to ensure meat products were clearly labeled with their country of origin. But the rules established by the previous administration included large loopholes that allow meatpackers to use a “multiple country” label for many products that were produced entirely in the United States or entirely in foreign countries.

Those loopholes must be eradicated because they render COOL effectively useless, Dorgan wrote in a letter to Secretary Vilsack that was co-signed by a number of Senate colleagues, including Senator Kent Conrad (D-N.D.).

“The concept behind COOL is a simple one. When American consumers go to the grocery store to buy a cut of meat, they should have the right to know whether it was produced here in America or in a country with fewer health and safety standards,” Dorgan said. “But these rules allow processors to put a meaningless ‘multiple country’ label on virtually any cut of meat. Clearly, this was an effort to coddle the meatpacking industry and circumvent the intent of Congress. I hope the new Administration will do the right thing and implement a COOL program that will stand up for American consumers and ranchers.”

“The vast majority of people in North Dakota -- and across the nation -- want to know the origin of the food they eat," Senator Conrad said. “By implementing COOL the way it was intended to work, we will deliver a much needed boost to our livestock producers and give confidence to consumers looking for the label ‘Made in the USA.’”

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