News Release | Country of Origin Labeling

(ORLANDO, Fla.) –Americans should have the option of choosing products made in the United States of America. At least that’s what was decided on May 13, 2002, when President Bush signed into law the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, more commonly known as the 2002 Farm Bill.

One of the many initiatives of the Farm Bill requires country of origin labeling (COOL) for beef, lamb, pork, fish, perishable agricultural commodities and peanuts.

Carl Loop Jr., president of Florida Farm Bureau Federation, the state’s largest general agricultural organization, is familiar with the labeling requirements as Florida has had a country of origin labeling law since 1979 for fruits and vegetables. Loop provided comments Wednesday at a listening session in Orlando scheduled by the USDA to gain more public input and provide interested parties more information about country of origin labeling.

“For more than 25 years, our organization has had formal policy in support of country of origin labeling for agricultural products,” Loop said. “Florida Farm Bureau campaigned for adoption of the country of origin provision in the Farm Bill. It passed with strong congressional support, especially within the Florida delegation.”

How it is implemented, however, has caused a heated debate. John VanSickle, a professor with University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, is the lead author of a new study by faculty at five universities to assist in discussions that will lead to federal regulations being developed by USDA to comply with provisions for country of origin labeling in the 2002 Farm Bill. VanSickle also directs UF’s International Agricultural Trade and Policy Center. (The study is available at http://www.iatpc.fred.ifas.ufl.edu/docs/policy_brief/PBTC_03-5.pdf.)

Opponents of the federal legislation - especially meat processors and retailers who profit from cheap beef imports - are comfortable with the current system of withholding information from consumers, VanSickle said. They claim the cost of adding labeling would be more than $2 billion. “There has been considerable debate and several competing claims about the cost of this program,” VanSickle said. “The fact of the matter is that USDA has not yet designed the regulations to implement mandatory labeling, and our study indicates it can be done in a way that will benefit the consumer - 90 percent to 95 percent cheaper than what opponents say it would cost.”

Proponents say that America has asked our producers to hold to high standards of production practices and they deserve the ability to choose whether their food is grown by those who are held to those practices.

“Our Farm Bureau members believe country of origin labeling is important,” Loop said. “They see this as an opportunity to build a more personal relationship with the consumers, an opportunity for national promotion and the potential for market development.”

Now the USDA has to implement the law. A repeated request at the Florida listening session was for the requirements to be as least burdensome as possible for all parties. For example, USDA should not impose a greater labeling requirement on blended products other than requiring the listing of the countries (and only the countries) from which the individual components originate; USDA should not impose a regulatory burden on persons Congress did not include as regulated entities--only those selling directly to the retailer, not indirect sellers; and USDA should utilize existing paperwork transactions already used between packers, processors and retailers to add a country of origin designation.

“We believe the implementation regulations should be as simple and straightforward as possible,” Loop said. “They should be easy for everyone involved to understand. The number one goal should be to ensure the program is not burdensome or excessively costly to producers, processors, retailers or customers.”

The remaining listening sessions are scheduled for California, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming. Implementation is scheduled to occur Nov. 30, 2004.

The Florida Farm Bureau Federation is the state's largest general-interest agricultural association with more than 150,000 member-families statewide. There are Farm Bureaus in 62 counties in Florida, where agriculture comprises a stable, vital leg of Florida's economy, rivaling the tourism industry in economic importance. Headquartered in Gainesville, the Federation is an independent, non-profit agricultural organization and is not associated with any arm of the government. More information is available on the organization’s website, http://FloridaFarmBureau.org.