- In response to industry concerns for mislabeled beef products,
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilack recently said that the "Product of the USA"
label on meat products should undergo a full-scale review. Vilack
maintains that he is "committed to ensuring that the
'Product of USA' label reflects what a plain understanding
of those terms means to U.S. consumers." In March, we reported that the Tenth Circuit dismissed lawsuits based on meat
producer's use of allegedly deceptive and misleading
"Product of the USA" labels on their beef products that
did not originate from cattle born and raised in the United
States.
- The issue of country-of-origin beef labeling ("COOL")
continues to be a source of debate. Earlier this week, the FTC finalized a rule that is intended to tighten
the use of the Made in the USA standard. The FTC said that this
update would benefit small businesses who lack the resources to
defend their products from foreign imitators. However, the FTC rule
does not require USDA action. In response, the beef industry is
demanding Congress to act swiftly.
- R-CALF, a group of USA-based cattle ranchers, has been pushing
hard for reforms on COOL. On September 22, R-CALF released a poll that shows staggering support for
mandatory COOL legislation by the American public. R-CALF reports
that 86 percent of American voters support the American Beef
Labeling Act that reinstates mandatory country of origin labeling
for beef, and 90 percent of voters are concerned that foreign
importers of beef can legally put a "Product of USA"
sticker on a package containing beef that was born, raised, and
harvested outside the United States.
- Currently, Congress is working through prospective beef labeling legislation that would require USDA oversight of COOL. The American Beef Labeling Act (S.2716) is a bipartisan bill that was introduced in the Senate in 2021; however, the bill has languished without action in the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee. In March 2022, a bipartisan companion bill was introduced in the U.S. House (H.R.7291), which has also seen little to no progress in the House Agriculture Committee. Keller and Heckman will continue to monitor these legislative developments and USDA action.
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