WASHINGTON, DC – While some cattle producers, commodity groups, and individuals call on Congress and USDA to renew the mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) law, there is a current label that the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) says needs to go away.
The “Product of the USA” label became a popular way for processors and retail outlets to identify meat when COOL was the law of the land. Unfortunately the use of the origin label did not pass the muster of the World Trade Organization (WTO) when both Canada and Mexico challenged the law in international court and won.
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) allows sellers to use the “Product of the USA” (POTUSA) and other broad U.S. origin labeling claims for beef products. But NCBA says the current labels could mislead consumers by claiming that a beef product is entirely of U.S. origin when imported beef products are also eligible to bear the label if the product was minimally processed or repackaged in a USDA-inspected facility.
(SOURCE: All Ag News)